Toy Fic
by Supa Supa Bad Truly Mad Moves
Summary: Post-TS3. Life in Bonnie's room and Sunnyside Daycare is a happy beginning, and there's no ending in sight. What awaits our many, many beloved toys?
1. Cliffhanger

**TOY FIC**

**by Supa Supa Bad Truly Mad Moves**

**Disclaimer:** Show me a good reason to disclaim fanfiction, and I'll show you how to harness the powers of Chuck Norris's beard. I simply don't buy it. What if I were to say that this fanfic is getting me tons of money? What'd you think of that?

Anyway, here's my first fic for Toy Story… I'll drink to hoping it doesn't suck. I'm thinking not a whole lot of plot, kind of winging it, but you can count on some light-hearted humor, mooshy romance, and other stuff like that. But anyway, I've loved _Toy Story_ since it came out when I was two years old. Do the math and tell me if I'm too old to be writing _Toy Story_ fanfiction. And to have a _Toy Story_ wall calendar. And to wish I lived in that world!

Okay, I gotta calm down. Let's start this story.

**1. Cliffhanger**

Bonnie bounced Totoro over to her empty wicker toybox. "Bring the prisoner forward!" she had him bellow.

Rex and Trixie stepped forward, bracing Jessie between them. "Are you sure she'll be safe in there?" Trixie asked.

"Don't worry," Totoro said in Bonnie's best deep voice. "She's nothing without her magic book."

Bonnie shifted her position to behind Jessie and lifted her up powerfully. "I'll show you!"

She waved Jessie wildly, kicking the two flanking dinosaurs into submission. "Yee-haw!" Jessie began to run away, but Totoro came at her and pinned her to the ground.

"You'll never escape, cowgirl!"

"Oh yes she will!"

Buzz Lightyear came riding in on Buttercup, who knocked Totoro aside. "Climb on!" he yelled. "Before he wakes up!"

Jessie swung in behind Buzz. Bonnie tenderly wrapped Jessie's arms around Buzz's waist, and Buttercup began galloping off to the sun in the window.

"Wait!" Jessie yelled. "My book! I can't cast magic without my book!"

Mr. Pricklepants dropped down in front of them. "Good," he growled.

"_Bonnie! Time for daycare!_" Bonnie's mom called.

"Coming, Mommy!" Bonnie called. She paused to stroke Buttercup's nose. "I'll be back this afternoon," she said sweetly. "Don't forget!" She scooped up her backpack, then turned back, noticing Buzz and Jessie. "You two are so cute together!" she said, pushing them closer together before taking off for Sunnyside.

Trixie heaved herself to her feet before helping Rex up. "Nice cliffhanger, guys!" she said.

"Oh, I do so live for this!" Mr. Pricklepants said, pumping his fists in the air.

Buzz turned to the door fondly. "A good kid, that Bonnie," he said.

"Yeah," Jessie agreed. "How d'ya suppose she knew?"

"Knew what?" Buzz muttered.

The cowgirl flung herself onto Buzz's lap. "Oh, I think you know," Jessie said. "How'd she know 'bout us bein' sweet together?"

"Oh," Buzz said, wiping his brow. "Um… well… I guess it… shows?"

"Mmm… maybe so…"

"Yeah, you're precious," Buttercup interrupted. "Get off my back."

Buzz leapt back, alarmed. Jessie laughed loudly and rolled off of Buttercup.

"I like this majestic steed stuff," Buttercup said. "But Buzz, now, we all love you, but for the love of Shelby Forthright you weigh a lot!" He paused. "Jess, you're nice and feathery, you can climb on my back any time."

"I'll keep that in mind, critter," Jessie said, winking. "But I'm gonna stick with the horse I got." Bullseye popped up and licked her face.

Dolly marched around the room, clapping her hands excitedly. "Well, everybody! Monday again, we get the whole run of the place to ourselves 'til daycare is out! By the way, Totoro, did _not_ buy you as the villain at all. Tough break."

Totoro smiled sheepishly, his grin broad and wordless as always.

"Anyway, as always, let's savor an old-fashioned Bonnie's-room good time!" Dolly finished.

"I've got dibs on the DVD player!" Trixie said.

"Eurgh," Mr. Pricklepants groaned. "I had my mind set on it today!"

"Tough noogies, I called it," Trixie countered. "Come on, Rex. Bonnie's mom rented _Hot Fuzz _last night, it should still be here."

"Eurgh," Mr. Pricklepants said again.

Hamm rested his hoof on a rubber ball. "Hey, Potato Head, think fast!" He hurled the ball, and Mr. Potato Head was knocked, quite literally, off of his feet. "I was hoping you'd think a bit faster," Hamm supplied.

"Where'd Woody scamper off to?" Slinky wondered. He hopped his front end onto Bonnie's desk, where Woody was laying on his stomach, leafing through a book.

"How's it going, buddy?" Slinky asked.

Woody noncommitally shut the book. "Fine," he said. "Just thinking about some things."

Slinky heaved himself all the way onto the desk. "Us and Bonnie, it's… you done right, puttin' us here. We belong."

"Yeah," Woody said. "We're Bonnie's toys now, and we're together. That's what it's all about, but…" He shrugged.

"Nobody said y'all had to stop missin' Andy," Slinky encouraged.

Woody scratched Slinky's head. "You're a good dog, Slink," he said.

"Well, you're a pretty darn good cowboy, Cowboy."

"Thanks," Woody said. "Ah, don't worry about me. With everything we've done… staying in touch with the guys at Sunnyside, putting on the play, a bit of _Hay un amigo en mi_… This is home. It's going to be our home for a long time."


	2. Gamble

**Toy Fic**

**2. Gamble**

One thing at Sunnyside Daycare hadn't changed—of course, none of the staff or children had a clue that _anything_ had changed, but for the toys life was radically different.

But a select bunch found that they preferred retreating during the night to the darkness of the vending machine. In all likelihood, it helped that the gamblers no longer had to worry who among their community had to be killed off. The new co-heads of Sunnyside were kind and fair. And their subjects had to admire the very pure love between the two of them. Like right now…

"You know what, Ken? You're a complete dolt."

"Oh," Chunk muttered in his gravelly voice. "Okay, bad example." He gently ushered the new Emperor Zurg doll around the corner. "But you know what I meant."

"Yes, yes," Zurg said quickly. "So… in this 'daycare' place, a toy is never outgrown?"

"Never," Stretch replied, slipping off the wall. "You'll be wanted forever. Life here's a dream come true for any toy… no matter what."

"Good," Zurg said. "The men from my room are anguished at our abandonment… if ever again I should meet the fool child who left us to rot in the back of his closet…" He shook a fist and brandished his ion blaster furiously.

"Easy," Stretch said. "Forget him! You got a million kids right here every day."

Ken and Barbie came around the corner. "I don't want you up in the vending machine, Barbie," Ken insisted. "It gets rough up there."

Barbie crossed her arms stubbornly. "I'll remind you I played a very large part in a certain prison break—I can handle myself at Candyland!"

"The vending machine is no place for a girl," Ken said feebly, though he knew he would soon lose the argument.

"What about Stretch?" Barbie demanded, pointing to the octopus aggressively. "She's part of your little in-group! How about a spot for your girlfriend and co-leader?"

"Hey, now, I'm not gonna take sides," Stretch said. "On a non-related point, I'm much less of a girl than Ken."

"I'm not—" Ken began.

"Ken," Barbie interrupted sternly. "I'm joining you in the vending machine, and that's that."

"Fine," Ken said, spreading his arms in defeat. "Let's go. Zurg, are you joining us?"

"No," Zurg said. "My imperial presence has been requested elsewhere."

"Really?"

"Yes. I have been invited to disco the night away. Now, if you'll excuse me."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Old maid," Twitch said, revealing his card with the smiling crone.

Groans rang out, and Twitch collected the tiny, clear circles. "What can I say, fellas?" Twitch said. "I've got a great old maid face. Deal again?"

"Pull up another spot, guys," said a tinny voice from the entrance to the den. Everyone turned around to see the Chatter Telephone slowly wheeling into the room.

"Hoo-boy, we're in trouble," Stretch said exuberantly. "This one's a mighty card shark!" She shuffled and began to deal in seven directions.

Sparks leaned in to examine the Chatter Telephone's face. "They, uh, repainted ya pretty good, huh?" he said.

"Like new," the phone replied curtly.

Twitch began to pick up his cards. "Good to see you here, CT," he said. "Me and Sparks, we figure we owe you an apology. You know, for… well, I'm just hoping you didn't take it personally."

"Oh, why in the world would I take a gang beating personally?" the Chatter Telephone said with a light chuckle.

"Hey, listen, fella—" Sparks began.

"It's okay, I know you two guys," CT said. "It was Lotso who single-handedly messed this daycare all to hell. I remember before he turned up, Twitch, you were practically our entire clergy. And Sparks, nobody loved the toddlers more than you. You did what you had to do to survive, and I'm proud of you both."

Twitch nodded slowly, examining his cards. "Well, that means a lot. Ya catch that one, Sparks? The old guy likes the way we move."

CT looked over his own cards. "Let's up the stakes," he said. "Last one with cards cleans up puddles."

"How much we talking?" Stretch said.

"The rest of the week," CT retorted. "Who's game?"

"I like the cut of your jib, Phoney," Stretch said with a smirk. "Let's go!"

"Hang on," Barbie said. "That's a communal duty. We rotate. We're not gambling it away!"

"What's life without some intrigue?" the Chatter Telephone said, waggling his eyebrows at Barbie. "I've been around too long, seen the ups and downs of daycare. One thing I've always known, it's that I can't be happy unless I live _dangerously_. You in or out, sugar?"

"Hold up, CT, that's not…" Ken began.

"It's okay, Ken," Barbie said, smiling. "Look at him, he's got nothing."

"Nothing?" CT repeated. "Oh yeah, I should probably put down my pairs, shouldn't I?"

CT slid all of his matching cards into the center. Barbie responded in turn… and she had very few cards left.

"I also like to live dangerously," she said. As an afterthought, she added, "Rowr."

Ken gaped. "I'm so glad you're here," he said. "Sunnyside is so great with you at the helm…"

"And I'm not going anywhere," Barbie assured him.


	3. Catalog

**Toy Fic**

**3. Catalog**

It was a typical Wednesday in mid-December, and Bonnie and her mother were off at Sunnyside as usual. The toys didn't quite have free reign, however, as Bonnie's father had Wednesdays off. It was close enough, however, as he regularly created projects for himself that required a lot of errand-running, and even when at home he could only be in one room at a time.

Woody walked casually into the living room. The Potato Heads were there, as were Hamm, the Peas, and Chuckles, all doing… their own thing, Woody supposed.

"Dad still in the front yard?" Woody asked.

"Yep," Hamm said. "The man's a fanatic with those decorations."

"Good, great," Woody said. He hopped onto the console table near the front door and, first making sure that the other toys in the room were still occupied, picked up a large stack of papers and began to walk out. Once behind the couch, he retrieved a red pen from his holster and uncapped it with his teeth.

"What's up, Woodster?" someone asked.

Woody spun. Hamm had followed him behind the couch. "Oh, um, hey, Hamm."

"What's that?" Hamm said.

Woody turned it over. "It's a toy catalog. Bonnie's dad had her circle the toys she wanted."

"Yeah? Aaaaand… what are _you_ doing with it?"

Woody paused. "No jokes, Hamm?"

"Well, that depends entirely on you."

Woody sighed, and set down the catalog and pen. "Well, Hamm, you know that when they sold Bo all those years ago, that hit me pretty hard."

"Oh…" Hamm said quietly. "You know I'd never joke about that."

"Well, anyway…" Woody continued. "It took me a while to recover from that one, had to remember that I was there to love Andy, that most toys don't get to have a relationship at all. But we have a new kid now, and we've been through a lot… boy, have we been through a _lot_. And… and, well, I think Bo would understand that, with life stable again, I'd like to… move on."

Hamm stared up at Woody passively. "You want to meet a doll?"

"Well, I'd like to try," Woody said. "I'd like to see what fate throws at me. With the holidays coming, this is my best chance. Maybe one of Bonnie's gifts will be what I'm looking for."

Hamm rested a hoof on Woody's boot. "Hey, this hasn't been easy for anybody," he said. "I'm proud of you." He opened the catalog. "Maybe I can help you look."

"Thanks, Hamm," Woody said softly. He bent down over the catalog and slowly turned one page at a time.

"Ooh, Bratz!" Hamm said. "Circle the Bratz."

Woody smirked, scoffing at the scantily clad fashion dolls. "I don't think I run at quite the speed for Bratz," he said.

"Who said anything about _your_ speed? Circle the damn Bratz."

"All right, all right… which ones?"

Hamm looked over the Bratz page. "Ah, I'm not picky, circle 'em all. It'll up the odds."

"Right," Woody said. He turned the page. "Oh, look, Disney Princesses! Sweet, wholesome Disney Princesses. That's what I'm talking about… better for Bonnie, too. Oh, can you imagine how much a Disney Princess would love Bonnie?"

He circled the entire Disney Princess page. "Frankly, I'm not picky either," he admitted.

"Am I hearing this right?"

Woody and Hamm flinched as Mr. Potato Head came around the corner, closely followed by his wife, Chuckles, and the Peas.

"Um, that depends on what you think you heard, Potato Head," Woody said, confused.

"We just got here," Potato Head said loudly, "and you're actively searching for new toys to edge us out!"

"Nobody's getting 'edged out'," Woody said, laughing now that he understood. "Come on, Bonnie doesn't have nearly as many toys as Andy did, and she loves each and every one of us." Potato Head gazed up at Woody, as if waiting for a better excuse. "Well, I mean, I—I—look, it's Christmas, she's going to get new toys anyway, and… um… nobody's getting replaced! Okay? Bonnie's not that kind of kid."

"No, she isn't," Dolly agreed.

Woody jumped. He had gone behind the couch to be alone, but it seemed like an awful lot of toys were coming at him.

"There, see?" Woody said. "Dolly knows Bonnie, and she's not afraid of new toys."

Potato Head continued to glower. "How many kids you had, Buttons?" he challenged.

"Just Bonnie," Dolly replied. "I was a gift for her the day she was born."

"That's what I thought. Let me tell you something… Thinking you're about to be abandoned, it ain't fun." Potato Head turned his gaze back to Woody. "I'm not too happy that Woody wants to speed up the process."

"Listen," Dolly said, "I'd be lying through my tooth if I said that I knew what you guys have been through, but Bonnie… she's not the abandoning kind. Way back in the day, before I started being typecast as the villain, I was Bonnie's _everything_, her dearest friend. And as she got more toys, she loved _them_ too. I was never forgotten, and I don't think she'll ever forget about me, or a single other toy she's ever had. With Bonnie, more toys just means more love." Dolly smiled. "I mean, you guys can tell, right? Andy must have been the same way."

"Yeah," Woody agreed. "There's a… a whole lot of love here."

Hamm closed the catalog. "Quit your worrying, Potato Head, 'cause we're getting some Bratz dolls." He paused, then turned to Dolly. "Lying through your tooth?"

"Well, I've just got the one."

"Of course."


	4. The Tub

**Toy Fic**

**AN: **Hey, isn't anybody reading this…? I know this is an active fandom, it's apparent to me that three chapters and three reviews is very, very puny… anyway, if you're reading this, just, well, let me _know_ that you're reading this, that's all I'm saying. Anyway, this chapter is full to the brim with some foofy JessieBuzz-ness, which I hope you enjoy… and I certainly hope you enjoy it enough to up my review count!

**4. The Tub**

Jessie jumped up to the bathroom door and turned the knob. The door swung outward, and Jessie herself swung inside, grabbing the inside doorknob and gently dangling one-handed.

"Here we are, Buzz," she said. "Just you and me."

Buzz walked beneath her, shielding his eyes from the bathroom light and looking around. "Right," he said nervously. "You and me. Great. Well… you, me, and the tub-toys."

Jessie followed his gaze to a small basket under the sink. A dozen chubby, brightly-colored sea creature toys were peering out at them.

"Oh, yeah, them," Jessie said, smirking. "Get on outta here, tub-toys!"

The diminutive critters scurried out through the door. Jessie hoisted herself up, balancing on the doorknob for a single tantalizing moment, then tugged on the doorframe and jumped, briefly nicking the light switch before landing perfectly on the ground, closing the door and turning out the lights in one deft move.

Buzz gaped. He hadn't noticed when the lights had been on, but…

"Thought I'd arrange us a nice candlelit boat ride," Jessie said, nodding appreciatively at Buzz's expression.

The room wasn't quite candlelit, but it was filled with tiny battery-powered lights shaped vaguely like candles. The bathtub was filled, and in it was floating a large toy pirate ship, stripped of its masts. It was a large sanctuary to its Playmobil crew, but for Buzz and Jessie… well, it was only large enough for the two of them, but that seemed to be what Jessie had in mind.

Jessie took a leap from the rim of the tub to the boat. "Hop on, Buzz," she said.

As Buzz gently stepped onto the ship, he noticed that music was playing from a speaker atop the bathroom cabinets. As the two of them sat down, facing each other, he tried to catch the words…

_Jamais on ne redira que la course aux étoiles, ça n'est pas pour moi__  
_

_Laisser moi vous émerveillez, prendre mon envol_

"What song is this?" he asked. "What does it, um… what does it mean?"

"I don't know French," Jessie said, shrugging. "It's 'Le Festin', it's from some movie. I don't know. I thought it sounded nice."

"Yeah… yeah, it does," Buzz agreed. "So, Jessie…"

"Yes?" she said, smiling brightly.

"What's… why have you taken me here?" Buzz realized he had nothing to do with his hands, then realized that the deck of the ship was covered in food. He picked up a muffin and tried to take a bite, but his teeth scraped against hard plastic. "Ouch! It's um… haha, it's fake."

"Yeah," Jessie said. "Anyway, like I said, I just wanted you and me to be alone, and do some talking."

"Jessie, I… is this a date?"

"Well, since you ask, yes, yes it is," Jessie said, beaming.

"Um, uh, ah… wow." Buzz said. His hands started flitting around again, and he grabbed a piece of pizza, once again hurting his teeth. "Oh… that one's also fake."

"They're all fake, Buzz. Toys don't eat."

"Right, right, of course… um, so, a date."

"Yeah," Jessie said. "And… well, I'm hoping to keep the rough-and-tough cowgirl bit to a minimum, just narrow it down to being… a 'girl'. That's why we're alone, 'cause that's just… just for you."

"Is it?" Buzz said quietly.

Jessie smiled up at him. "You're cute when you got somethin' on your mind, Buzz. Like you're right about to speak… you're a good speaker until you remember that I'm around. That always kills your momentum."

"Yeah, yeah, it… does."

"Well, you don't have to be afraid, Buzz," Jessie coaxed. "Tell me what you're thinking about."

"What makes you think I'm, uh… thinking?"

Jessie shrugged. "I can tell, is all," she said. "Please tell me, Buzz."

"Well, I… I was thinking… why me?"

Jessie tilted her head to the side, not understanding.

"I know it's an odd question, but… I'm just wondering, why? Of all the toys in the world, how do you… how do you come to pick me?"

Jessie considered. "Well, long answer… you're funny and cute and sweet. You're easy to talk to. You got gadgets that are fun to play with. You're good at the buddy-action sort of playtime, which we have in common. You appreciate a good kid when you've got one, and you'll do just about anything to protect your friends. If I have standards, you cleared 'em, Buzz, you cleared 'em way uptown."

"Wow," Buzz said.

"Yeah, and I love how you're so shy around me, that's cute… and the way you care about everybody, and that squeaky sound your head makes when somebody punches you. Can I punch you?"

"If you must, but I'd rather you didn't… Um, you seemed to be implying that there was a short answer?"

"Oh, yeah. Short answer: there'll never be any toy but you for me. That's why you."

Buzz coughed. It was the only answer he could manage, but it was enough for Jessie. She laughed exuberantly.

"Ahem… well, thank you, Jessie," Buzz said. "That's hard to follow, but for what it's worth… I'm very happy that we're finally together. I've been waiting for it for a long time."


	5. Toy Karma

**Toy Fic**

Hi, thought I'd open with a few shout-outs to recent reviewers:

LilStarWriter: Thanks for being the first repeat-reviewer! I warn you, however, that I may now become clingy, so try not to be absent from reviews for too long from this point forth.

Nomen-the-namliest: That's how I roll. Not to worry, I intend that something happens eventually.

Invader Kathy Starsky: Yes, there will be much more Sunnyside mischief in the future. In fact, if I understand my own mind, this story is going to jump all over the place.

**5. Toy Karma**

Woody leaned against the spice rack on the kitchen counter, staring out the window. Hearing a clatter behind him, he turned to see Buzz stumbling toward him in a daze. It was anybody's guess as to how he managed to climb up there, if his walking was any indication.

Buzz heaved himself over to where Woody was standing and plopped to the ground, breathing hard. "Hey, Woody," he said.

"Jessie just finish with you?" Woody said.

"Yeah… that woman kisses with what can only be described as laser precision," Buzz chuckled. He paused and looked at Woody. "Listen, you're not… jealous, are you?"

"Jealous? Nah, Jessie's like my sister, you know that."

"Well, of our situation in general, I mean," Buzz said. "You know, what we have that you don't."

"Oh, that," Woody said. "Nah, I'm fine. I accept my lot, whatever happens. Most toys are lucky to have a kid who's halfway decent to them, and here I've had two who were just… phenomenal. Sure, I'll circle some girly toys in a catalog, but I don't want to tempt fate by really hoping for more than I'm due. Whatever happens, I'm feeling all right."

Buzz patted Woody on the back. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that. You're the greatest toy I've ever had the privilege to meet. Your karma is solid. If there's any justice in this world, when Christmas comes, one of those boxes is going to contain the doll of your dreams."

Woody smiled. "Well, I hope so, Buzz… but whatever happens, happens."

Neither of them had noticed Dolly peering over the edge of the counter. She had been about to speak until she heard Buzz's final comment… then she dropped to the ground and silently began to edge away. Just before disappearing from sight, she shoved the end table next to the sofa, clattering it loudly.

Woody and Buzz looked up, but only saw Rex tapping away at the computer, pausing frequently to either double-check his own typing or consult the latest issue of _The Incredibles_, which was propped up next to him.

"Rex, was that you?" Buzz asked.

"Could have been," Rex said.

Woody and Buzz watched him typing away as quickly as his tiny arms would allow.

"Uh, Rex," Woody said, "maybe you should take it easy with the computer."

"But it's great, Woody," Rex said. "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a toy." He moved aside to click the mouse button, then looked up to scowl at the screen. "Well… nobody except Adam."

"Adam?" Woody repeated.

"Adam, the velociraptor down the street," Rex replied. "We're both in these discussions on the forums for _The Incredibles_, and he's always trying to bait me…"

"Does he succeed?" Buzz said cautiously.

Rex sighed and pointed to the screen. "Here's what I just posted in response to him. You tell me."

Woody and Buzz jumped off the kitchen counter and clambered up to the computer desk. They briefly scanned Rex's post before flinching away in unison.

"Wow," Buzz said.

"I know," Rex muttered. "He really gets to me! He's always chatting and multiplaying with Trixie, hogging all the bandwidth… in a way, she spends more time with him than with me. I feel like I'm losing her…"

Buttercup paused in his trek across the living room carpet and walked up to the desk. "Rex, you don't have to worry about that," he said. "Trixie's met Adam once in her life, when Bonnie took her over for a playdate. Trixie's into you, Rex, whatever she thinks of Adam. They just play games together, they never meet and from what I hear, he's not even from the same line as the two of you."

Rex looked wistfully at the computer. "I'm not convinced," he said. "I mean, there are some very real bonds between them… I couldn't handle being rejected by the only dinosaur I've ever cared for, you guys! And Adam… well, there's nothing I can say about him. She absolutely adores him…" Rex paused, then began tapping at the keyboard with unchained fury. "And I hate it when he still calls her Elastigirl! After she married, she became Mrs. Incredible! Why can't Trixie see what an infuriating individual he is!"

Rex submitted his post and, grabbing his comic book, jumped to the floor and waddled away. Woody, Buzz, and Buttercup could only exchange glances with each other.


	6. Garbage

**Toy Fic**

**6. Garbage**

A certain young garbage man rode in the back of his truck going slowly along Elm Street.

"_Ba-downa-bow-bow! BOW-BOW-BOW!"_

He loaded trash into the back of the truck and tapped the side; the driver continued on.

"_Bana-bana-bow-now! BOW-BOW-BOWNA-BOWWW!"_

Sid paused suddenly. In front of house 234, a young girl with blond curls was walking to the curb holding a tiny object: a fuzzy toy tabby cat, barely the size of Sid's thumb and covered with dirt. As the truck stopped, the girl waved to Sid and prepared to chuck the cat into the garbage can.

Sid whipped off his headphones and clutched the girl's wrist. "What… what do you think you're doing there, kid?"

Molly looked up at him haughtily, not even removing her own earbuds. "Just throwing out this old toy," she said.

"Oh, give me that," Sid said. He took the cat from her and tried to dust it off, but the dirt was tightly engrained into its fur. "Don't throw away toys," Sid said. "_Never_ throw away toys."

"Why not?" Molly demanded.

Sid lifted his sunglasses and stared down at her. "Maybe they don't like it," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But look at it," Molly said. "It's all dirty…"

"Hey, it's still a toy!"

"Well, I'm too old for toys," Molly said proudly.

Sid stared. "What's your name, kid?"

"You know, guy," Molly said, smiling tightly, "I've got this crazy feeling that I shouldn't tell you that."

Sid snorted. "Okay, be that way. What's the cat's name?"

"What?"

"The cat! Think back to when you were younger and gave the poor thing a measure of respect—what did you call it?"

Molly rolled her eyes. "Tiny. Its name is Tiny. I'm gonna _go_, if that's okay."

Molly retreated into the house. Sid sighed and loaded up the garbage. The truck continued on its way, and Sid gently looked over the tiny cat.

"Hey," he said. "I'm Sid."

The cat remained silent and unmoving, its happy expression and blue eyes seemingly melded there forever.

"Yeah, that's what they all say," Sid said sadly. "I haven't forgotten, you know. I'm still a part of this world. I've _always _loved toys."

The truck stopped at the next house, and Sid casually loaded up a few more bags.

"I save as many toys as I can," he continued. "You know, you wouldn't be breaking any rules if you spoke to me… even though none have for… for… um…"

Sid froze as the garbage truck braked yet again. Right in front of him, on the ground next to this house's trash, was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"My God," he muttered. "Um, hey, Joe, hold the truck for a second!" He picked up the object and sprinted to the front door, knocking frantically.

An elderly woman answered. "Yes?"

"Hi, ma'am," he said. "Um, I'm Sid, your, um, garbage man. I was just wondering… what is this?"

He held up a porcelain figure of a shepherdess in a spotted pink dress. The woman looked it over fondly, sighing deeply.

"That's just an old Bo Peep doll," she said. "I bought her a few years ago at a yard sale just two houses over… she went at the base of a lamp, along with some sheep… but the lamp and the sheep broke after a while… grandchildren, you know… and I couldn't bear to see poor Bo Peep all alone there anymore."

Sid looked the woman over, then the doll. "She isn't broken," he said.

"I put her on the sidewalk gently," the woman said. "I figured, let her break at somebody else's hand, not mine."

Sid turned over the doll in his hands. "Can I have her?" he asked.

"Well, I was throwing her away anyway. Whatever you prefer."

"I… thank you, ma'am," Sid said.

The garbage truck's horn honked. "Yo, Sid! What are you doin' up there? We're runnin' late already!"

Sid waved aside his driver's yelling and turned back to the old woman at the door, but she was gone, the door closed right behind his back.

"Coming, Joe," Sid said. Returning to the truck, he whipped out a plastic grocery bag and gently placed Bo within. "Two rescues on one block," he said. "I'm a regular hero, aren't I, Tiny?"

Sid hopped onto the truck and placed the small cat in the bag along with Bo, keeping it tightly at his side so as not to jostle it. "Bo, meet Tiny. Tiny, Bo Peep."

Sid placed his sunglasses back over his eyes and put his headphones back on, though he didn't turn on his music. "People think I'm crazy, this thing I have with toys," he said wistfully. "Not that I blame them, I'm sure that even my toys think I'm a bit off in the head… but I know what I saw."

He looked down at Bo and Tiny. "I've always loved toys. I wasn't always nice to them, though… when I say I loved them, I meant I loved to rip them apart, set fire to them, strap them to explosives… well, I don't need to tell you that my toys didn't like that. They showed me what they really were, how I had affected them. 'Play nice', they said, and I have held onto that my entire life."

Sid sighed. "After a while, all the toys I had at that time left me. Just in the middle of the night, no note, no sign there had ever been toys in my room. They just… left. But I still _live_ for toys." He held up Bo and looked in her eyes. "I wish toys would trust me," he said sadly. "Trust me with their secret… I mean, I already know it, but my toys never… well, I don't care if they trust me or not. I _know_ I'm good to toys, and I'm going to be good to _you_."

Sid's cell phone rang. He gently placed Bo back in the bag before carelessly flinging more black trash bags into the back of the truck and whipping out his phone with a flourish. "Yo! You're on the air with Sid Phillips," he whooped. "What? …Well, of course I'm kidding. I'm at work, Ma. Of course I'm bringing back groceries… well, I think I'll bring back any damn groceries I want, Ma. Don't even think about giving me a list."

With his eye now on his work, and his mind buried in his conversation, Sid didn't notice the peculiar thing that happened to the doll on his hip—her eyes widening in horror, and the nod as she fit the pieces together, silently mouthing his name.

"Sid Phillips…"


	7. Talkin' to Totoro

**Toy Fic**

**7. Talkin' to Totoro**

Totoro had always regarded himself as a sentinel, keeping a silent watch over all the other toys that lacked his height and his bulk. There were twenty-one toys in Bonnie's room, and Totoro secretly made it his responsibility to make sure that all of them were accounted for at dusk and dawn.

He made his way silently around the room, checking everyone's status. There were three aliens, three peas… Rex and Trixie slept standing up, leaning on each other. Totoro counted the toys on the bed… nineteen… and himself, that was twenty. Who was missing?

His big rabbit ears caught the sounds of a television show. He hopped out into the living room to find Dolly, watching some sort of black-and-white film on the computer.

"_Hey Sheriff Woody, isn't somethin' missin'?"_

"_I don't think so… my hat!"_

"_Well, a cowboy without his hat is like a yodel without an ay-hee-hoo! Critters! Find the Sheriff's hat!"_

"Finally tracked it down," Dolly said quietly as Totoro took some big jumps onto the chair, then the desk. "_Woody's Roundup_, it was big in the '50s." She turned to Totoro with the tiniest smile. "They don't make this merchandise anymore. If some collector found out that Bonnie has three of the four dolls, and that she actually _plays_ with them, his head would probably explode." She nodded thoughtfully. "That guy Andy knew what he had, but he passed them all on to Bonnie. Pretty nice of him, wasn't it?"

Totoro shrugged, trying to convey to Dolly that he didn't know what she was getting at.

"Oh, I just think it's impressive, that's all. That has to get to Woody's head sometimes, that he's such a big piece of merchandise. Puts him on an even keel with Buzz. _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ was a big show, too, not so long ago." She smiled again. "Well, you know what I'm talking about, you're Totoro. Did you ever see your film, _My Neighbor Totoro_?"

Totoro shook his head.

"Neither have I. I hear it's charming, we should get it." Dolly finally switched off the program, giving the big plush her full attention. "Must be nice, being a toy that has some meaning. I'm just a generic rag doll from the hospital gift shop. Maybe I don't really deserve such a big fancy toy."

She sat herself down on the edge of the desk, covering her eyes. Totoro hopped over and patted her on the back.

"Don't touch me," Dolly said quietly. "Just go."

Totoro backed away uncertainly, then hopped down onto the desk chair.

Dolly lowered her hands in disbelief. "I was _talking_ to you," she said in a pained voice.

Totoro rotated on his axis and came back to the desk, as Dolly stood up.

"I just can't believe that cowboy, really," she said. "We've got a perfectly good life here, then he rides in here and imposes his entire family on us… oh, what am I saying? It's great to have them all here. It's just Woody who's stupid… well, he's not stupid, is he? He's smart and brave and loyal… you know, the perfect cowboy. The perfect toy, really. Follow?"

Totoro shook his head.

"You don't follow? Well, good, 'cause neither do I. I mean, here's Woody, circling toys in a catalog—hoping that God or fate or the universe or whatever is going to give him some strange doll. He's got a perfectly nice doll right here! And he doesn't even… I mean, I don't even see how it's possible, but it's pretty clear that it never even occurred to him that I'm around."

Dolly sat down again, her face in her hands again. "I could have gone for him, Totoro. From day one, I could have… but look at me. I'm not durable. I'm just not made to last."

Dolly was perfectly silent for a few minutes, her eyes closed, only breathing. Totoro was about to lean in to comfort her, but she leapt up and hugged him before he even came close.

"Thanks for listening, Totoro," she said. "Try to keep this between us, okay? Good man."

Dolly swaggered back to the room, leaving Totoro trailing behind her blankly.


	8. Turf

**Toy Fic**

**8. Turf**

Barbie changed out of her cheerleading outfit and into something a bit more "everyday". She'd had a wonderful day in the Butterfly Room, and was feeling an absolute zest for life. She took the lift out of the Dream House and looked around. A few toys were around, but none of the upper-management.

"Where is everybody?" Barbie asked a green puppy and a sunflower. They shrugged, bowed kindly at her presence, and returned to their activities.

"Hmmm," Barbie said thoughtfully, then went through the passage to the Caterpillar Room.

What she saw was horrifying.

A huge crowd of toys were gathered around a small activity table, on top of which Zurg and the Monkey were locked in fierce hand-to-hand combat.

"Oh my Hasbro!" Barbie shrieked. "What is going on? Stop it! Stop it!"

As she tried to break through the crowd, Twitch gently blocked her path. "It's okay, Barbie," he said.

"But they're fighting!" Barbie gasped.

"No they're not. Come here…"

Twitch led Barbie to the Chatter Telephone, who was wearing a fedora and watching the fight with intense interest. Twitch lifted the hat, passed the phone's receiver to Barbie, and placed the hat snugly back on the phone's head.

"Ah, Barbie. Glad you're here," the phone said.

"What is happening?" Barbie said in a strained voice.

"Walk with me."

The Chatter Telephone led Barbie across the floor of the Caterpillar Room. "Things are rotten in the state of Sunnyside," he explained. "Ever since we got rid of Lotso, I was afraid that it would rise again, and it did! I don't know if you were aware, but there's a McHappy Place across the street, full to the brim with pizza, burgers, tacos… and toys, Barbie. There are toys at the McHappy Place, and I think that they're preparing to muscle in on the Sunnyside turf."

Barbie turned uncertainly back to the table. Zurg had pushed the Monkey off the table and was now surfing across the crowd.

"And you're using violence to deal with this problem?" Barbie demanded.

"Violence?" the phone said, his eyes widening. "Oh, don't be silly. We're just putting together a rugby team, to take care of the rivalry between Sunnyside and the Tri-County McHappy Place in a constructive manner."

Barbie rotated her head around again as Big Baby got on the table and quickly lifted the Monkey over his head, throwing him back off the table.

"What's _this_, then?" Barbie demanded.

"Ah, well, that was _my_ innovation. In order to get on the rugby team, you have to fight the Monkey."

"Fight the Monkey."

"Yeah! I think it's an elegant system, proves to us who's really worthy to protect this place. After all, the Fearsome Foursome all bested him…"

"The who?" Barbie interrupted.

"Twitch, Stretch, Chunk, and Sparks. The Fearsome Foursome. And look, Zurg beat him, Big Baby beat him… the Bookworm did _not _beat him."

In the corner of the puppet theater, Barbie saw the Bookworm replacing the bulb in his flashlight. "My fault for trying," he said, shrugging.

"Ooh, look, Sarge is up," the Chatter Telephone said. "I wanted to see this. Excuse me…"

The phone wheeled himself back to the gathered mob as the Monkey leered down at the tiny green soldier. Barbie stared in horror as the Monkey reached out a cymbal and struck straight down. But Sarge did a back flip just in time for the cymbal to hit only the surface of the table, and Sarge grabbed the Monkey's fuzzy hand to propel himself forward onto its face.

The Monkey took several blows with his cymbals, but Sarge's acrobatics kept the Monkey hitting only his own face. Having forced him backwards several inches, Sarge dropped back to the ground and delivered a mighty kick to the Monkey's belly, causing him to fall off the table once again.

Sarge looked around at the breathless crowd. "Mission accomplished," he growled.

"Oh, he's good," the Chatter Telephone whispered. "He's very, very good."

Barbie clutched the receiver closer to herself. "Ahem… did _you_ fight the Monkey, Chatter?"

"Me? Oh, of course not. It was my idea to have to fight the Monkey, ergo, I don't have to fight the Monkey."

Barbie stared at the little phone. "You know, you're a slippery character. I don't know if you deserve such a position of authority at the new, peaceful Sunnyside."

The phone chuckled. "Oh, no, you need me, Barb," he said. "You need a guy who knows the crooks, a guy who hears everything around here. Ken put me in my position for my aptitude."

"What exactly is there to 'hear around here'?" Barbie demanded.

"Come closer," the phone said.

Barbie knelt down uncertainly.

"Closer."

Barbie leaned as close to the phone's face as she could get.

"Word around the Caterpillar Room is that one or more high-ranking Sunnyside toys are engaged in a secret affair."

Barbie shrugged. "Okay, I suppose that's interesting. What else?"

"Well, it's… secret. This toy or toys don't want anybody to know."

"Go on."

"If you want more, I'll need a double A."

"I don't carry batteries."

"Aw, that's too bad. I _wanted_ to tell you."

Barbie stood up. She wasn't getting anything else out of this seasoned lifer. "Chatter?" she said.

"Yes?"

"I think it's only fair," she said, "if _you_ fight the Monkey."

"I will if you will."

"Deal," Barbie said. "Oh, Big Baby? Do make sure this gentleman doesn't get away while I'm on the table."

Big Baby nodded and stood over the phone.

Barbie noticed Ken emerging from the bathroom between the two classrooms. He was dressed for winter, with a lovely woolen hat and a red-and-gold scarf.

"Ken!" Barbie said, rushing up to him for a hug. "Kiss me for luck, Ken. I'm about to show you why I belong in the in-group… not to mention why I used to dress for aerobics."

"What?" Ken said. "What is going on?"

"Oh, nothing," Barbie said. "Just that I'm fighting the Monkey and apparently someone on the high shelves is having an affair." She rolled her eyes. "That phone is a laugh riot, isn't he?"

"An affair?" Ken said, tightening his scarf so his neck was no longer visible. "Well, I wouldn't know anything about that, but, um… best of luck."


	9. Yvonne

**Toy Fic**

Hi, I'd just like to fill you all in on a little something… on the subject of OC's. For most of my stories, I pride myself on my OC's, and all of them are very well-received. Well, when I began "Toy Fic", I thought, well, that's not gonna happen. If there's one thing that does not need OC's, it's _Toy Story_. After all, all three of the movies are simply full to the brim with more characters than you could possibly need.

However, I finally resigned myself to the fact that, yes, OC's are bubbling up in my mind, and they're all so great and funny… and it makes sense. After all, Bonnie is going to be getting more toys for Christmas than just the ones that are vital to the plot, that's only common sense. And of course we'll be seeing the interior of Sid's room, so obviously, there are going to be many new toys there whom we've never met, nudge nudge wink wink.

Anyway, on to _this_ chapter, which brings us back to an old favorite, as well as somebody we may have forgotten about, and not to mention an OC I'm composing by the name of…

**9. Yvonne**

Andy was taking a course in computer graphics, a field that he decided wasn't really for him. After a few months, he'd realized his mind wasn't quite made for the delicate task of carefully dissecting images. No, he needed something bigger, less subtle, for which to use his hands. He remembered the feel of a hefty new toy… there just wasn't anything more perfect.

But he was determined to complete the computer graphics course, if not because the deadline for transferring had already passed, then certainly so he could see Yvonne every day…

"Hey, Yvonne," Andy said. "So, um, we're pairing off for the big project, would you…?"

"I work alone," she said shortly.

"…Are you sure?" Andy asked.

Yvonne looked up at him. Her blue eyes were startling beneath her heavy and darkly-shadowed and lined eyelids. Yes, Yvonne was a very proud college-age Goth. She kept herself in the back of the room, never drew attention to herself and kept her speech sharp and to the point.

But God help him, there was something about that psycho that Andy found irresistible.

"Yeah," Yvonne said. "I don't need a partner."

"All right," Andy said quietly. He turned around to find someone else who was alone… "Um, Hannah, could—"

"Sit," Hannah Phillips said simply.

Andy plopped down on a chair.

"So," Hannah said. "We're creating a graphic that sells a product—any ideas?"

"Not just yet… say, do you know what's the deal with Yvonne?"

"No clue," Hannah said. "Come on, what are we selling?"

"Um…" Andy stammered. "How about toys?"

"_Toys_…" Hannah muttered, writing it down. "Okay, sure. Let's start on that graphic, then."

"Seriously," Andy interrupted, "Yvonne. You talk to her, right? What's…?"

"Oh, she's just highly damaged," Hannah said. "So, toys. What kind of advertisement are we going for?"

"Well, that's the great thing about toys. They can be anything at all."

Hannah laughed. "That sounds exactly like something my brother would say. Worships toys at the altar, the lunatic. Turned my room into a toy museum after I left for college."

Andy chuckled too. "Cute, how old?"

"Twenty-two."

"Oh… your _older_ brother… what, is he a collector?"

Hannah shrugged. "Eh, what he does is a bit too cuckoo to be called collecting, but… sure."

"Yeah?" Andy said. He chuckled. "My sister _thinks_ she's twenty-two, but she's only—"

"Listen," Hannah said. "We'll swap life histories some other time. Here, I penciled something. Look at it." She held up a rough image of her graphic. Andy was taken aback—all that detail in only a few seconds!

"Oh, come on," he said. "We have four days to do this one thing, let's ride this out easy."

"Hmm… no. I don't ride easy. School is my top priority, I'm not gonna muck around."

"Well, it's nice to have priorities," Andy said. "But don't let it be the only thing that occupies you, come on. Free time is good too."

"Oh?" Hannah said snidely. "And what would occupy _your _time?"

"Yvonne," Andy said simply, gesturing to her. "Come on, look at her." Yvonne was across the room, her nose nearly touching her sketchpad as she scribbled away.

"I mean, sure, she seems a bit down," Andy said. "Maybe she's damaged and miserable and depressed… but maybe what she needs to get un-damaged, to get un-miserable, maybe all she needs is the care and affection of a great guy. What do you think?"

"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard," Hannah said simply. "Look, I tweaked the rough spots, what do you think?"

Andy glanced at the graphic. "That's, well… we can use that. But you're not even attempting to see anybody?"

"Oh, no," Hannah said. "Actually, right now, I am deeply committed to _nobody_, and I have no want or need to see other people on the side."

"Well, that's no kind of life, Hannah," Andy said quietly.

As Hannah continued to sketch, Andy turned around to watch Yvonne. His curiosity couldn't be tamed now—he just _had_ to crack her shell.

Hannah saw the look in Andy's eyes. "Well, you could be right about that," she said silently. "'Course, you're never gonna get that kind of talk from _me_…"


	10. Out of the Dryer

**Toy Fic**

**10. Out of the Dryer**

Bonnie marched through her room, tightly gripping Woody and Buzz.

"We're on a mystic adventure!" she proclaimed. "An adventure to find the key that will bring happiness to the universe for a million million years!"

She set down Woody and Buzz, quickly whispering "One moment!" as she did so, and brought Mrs. Potato Head into the scene, along with the Aliens. She had the three of them surround Mrs. Potato Head and squeezed them one by one, as hard as she could.

Bonnie then returned to Buzz and Woody and had them stand powerfully over the Aliens. "Are you saying 'ni' to that old woman?"

The Aliens turned around one by one. "Um… yes."

"Oh, what sad times are—"

As Bonnie gestured, Buzz's feet knocked into a pitcher of water she'd prepared for the playtime. The pitcher tipped and rolled, and its entire contents emptied out… onto Jessie.

Bonnie gasped. "Oh no!" she said. "Oh no oh no oh no oh no—MOM!"

"What, honey?" Bonnie's mother called out.

Bonnie picked up Jessie and ran from her room. "Mommy, I got Jessie so, so wet!"

As soon as Bonnie left the room, Woody and Buzz sprang up and peered out the door. Bonnie's mom took Jessie from her and looked her over.

"Oh, it's only water," Bonnie's mom said. "Too much to air-dry, though… we can run her through the dryer. Let's do it right now."

"Okay," Bonnie said, still barely breathing. "Okay… it's okay…"

Woody and Buzz returned to the room, where the other toys were gathered. "Is she gonna be okay?" Rex said. "Are we losing her?" He grabbed Woody by the shoulders and shook him hard. "Tell me we haven't lost her already, Woody!"

"She'll be fine," Woody said.

"But the dryer…" Hamm said. "Is that safe?"

"Absolutely," Woody said with complete certainty. "I've taken a few runs through a dryer myself, it's nice in there. Jessie's going to be just fine."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

A half-hour later, Bonnie returned to the room with a newly dried Jessie—evidently having stood there for the entire cycle. "Oh, Jessie," she said, "I'm so glad you're okay! I'm glad I got to put you in there, because you smell good, and you're just so warm!" She snuggled Jessie, then took a pillow from her bed and set it on the floor in front of the toybox. "I'll put you on your special pillow so you can sleep!" Bonnie said. "You must be so tired."

"Dinner, Bonnie!" her mom called.

Bonnie scampered away, leading to all of the toys gathering around the pillow. Jessie slowly, shakily got to her feet.

"Whoo!" she said. "I thought I was in deep trouble there for a second."

"How are you feeling?" Rex asked.

"Great," Jessie said. "A little loopy, but great."

Jessie staggered onto the bedroom floor, holding out her hands for balance and bracing herself for a fall.

"Where is Buzz? Ah, there's my Space Ranger…"

Jessie stumbled, toppling right into Buzz's arms. "Hey," she said, grinning, her eyes unfocused.

"Hey, Jessie," he said. "Wow, you _are_ warm…" He put one hand on her hip, and held Jessie's hand with his other.

"Yeah?" Jessie said. She looked him carefully in the eye. "You know, you've got big hands and a tiny head."

"What?" Buzz said.

Woody laughed. "Still dizzy… I think you should lay down, Jess."

"No," Jessie said. "I wanna play! What are we doing tonight?" She tried to stand up, but tipped right back onto Buzz. "Hey, Buzz," she whispered.

"What?" Buzz whispered back nervously.

"You ever wish we were… you know… _anatomically correct_?"

Buzz jumped. "Um—ah—let's get you back on that pillow." He lifted her up and began walking back.

"Well, do ya?" Jessie said loudly.

"Um, no," Buzz said, still keeping his voice down. "Because then we wouldn't very well be toys, would we? And—"

Buzz stopped short, in his speech and his walk, when Jessie licked him across the face. She giggled, and he quickly cleared his head and continued to the pillow.

"And if we were…" Buzz said, setting her down. "If, in some other world, we were real people… I'd still be an honorable Space Ranger, who would never take advantage of a woman who's just gone through the dryer. Now go to sleep… close your eyes."

"Okay," Jessie said, her eyes glazing. "I guess I _am_ sleepy."

"Good," Buzz said. "Get your rest."

He began to walk away, then he heard a faint "Hey, Buzz?"

Buzz turned back to Jessie. "Yes, Jessie?" he said.

"I love you."

Buzz's eyes widened, and he inhaled deeply. He walked back to her and knelt down. "I love you too, _mi flor del desierto_," he said. He kissed her gently on her forehead. She was already asleep.

He turned to walk away again. _What in the world is "flor del desierto"?_ he wondered. _Where did that come from?_

It didn't matter, he decided. They'd said it.


	11. Feelings

**Toy Fic**

Okay, here's how I know I'm a hardcore Pixar geek. First, in 2006 when I found out that the main character of _Cars_ was named Lightning McQueen, my first thought was Glenn, not Steve. Second point: the new animated film _Rio_? All I have to go on is one trailer I've seen, but: rip-off of _Newt_, Pixar's upcoming, not-even-being-advertised-yet film. I don't have any facts; I can just tell. My devotion runs that deep.

**11. Feelings**

"Woody. Woody, Woody, Woody, check this out…"

Woody glanced up. "What, Potato Head?"

"Look at this," Mr. Potato Head said enthusiastically. From behind his back, he pulled a balsa-wood slate with the image of a woman in a dress.

"What's this?" Woody said.

"Well, it's a lovely princess, fresh out of the box and lost in this great big room. She needs a cowboy to save her, don't you think?"

Woody snorted with laughter and went along. "Why, sure, I'll help you, princess," he said in his best baritone. "What's your trouble?"

Mr. Potato Head puppeteered the figure. "Well, a princess ain't nothin' without a big strong man around, don't you know?"

Woody rolled his eyes. From up on the bed, he heard Hamm speak in a falsetto: "Oh, no, I'm falling!"

Looking up, he saw that Hamm had a second, identical balsa-wood doll, and was slowly pushing it off the edge. Woody leapt to catch it, holding one figure under each arm. Hamm laughed and hopped off the bed.

"It's okay, princesses," Woody said. "Sheriff Woody can save the day again."

"Good catch!" Rex said, genuinely awed.

Slinky chuckled. "This is funny, Woody. Keep it goin'…"

"Hey," Buttercup interjected. "What's the matter with you guys?"

Woody turned to him, confused.

"Come on, how can you put on an act like that right in front of Dolly?" Buttercup continued.

Woody looked over to Dolly, across the room. Dolly was frantically slashing her hand back and forth across her throat, trying to get Buttercup to stop.

"What about Dolly?" Woody said.

"Oh, like you don't know?" Buttercup said. "She's had her eyes on you for a long time."

"Stop it, stop it, stop it…" Dolly hissed.

"But—" Woody began.

"I know, you can't tell, 'cause they're googly, but trust me, they're on you."

"Hey, tough guy," Dolly interrupted. "You don't have to speak for me."

"Of course," Buttercup said. "I just think it bothers you, him doing his little princess playact with you right here. Obviously, that gets to you, and…"

"Shut UP, Buttercup."

"Oh, never heard that one before," Buttercup grumbled, walking away.

Dolly angrily watched him go, then looked up at Woody.

"Dolly, I… is that…?"

"True? No. You're insensitive, overbearing, and obsessed with hitting on Disney Princesses. Not my kind of fella."

Dolly turned to leave. The four toys surrounding Woody began to step forward.

"Hey, listen—" Hamm called angrily.

"You got my pal all wrong—" Slinky began.

Woody held out his hands to stop them. "Let her go, guys," he said. "If that's how she feels…" He shrugged.

Dolly slipped under the bed. Trixie, the Peas, and Mrs. Potato Head came in after her.

"Hey, liar," Peatey said, smirking.

"Dolly," Trixie said, "why would you say that to him?"

"I meant what I said," Dolly said firmly.

"But you love Woody." Peatrice said. "You told us."

"I changed my mind," Dolly said, sitting down on a dusty board game.

Mrs. Potato Head stepped up to Dolly and sat next to her. "It's all right, Dolly," she said. "It'll be okay."

"Trixie, how's things with Rex?" Dolly asked.

Trixie giggled. "Oh, he's just so funny. We have a good time."

"And Adam?"

"Well, as we all know, there's talk of a playdate," Trixie said. "And you can bet I'm not gonna miss that… but come on, what about _you_?"

"Me? Nothing's going to change," Dolly said. "It's that simple."


	12. Glass Cabinet

**Toy Fic**

Okay, clarify: I did a bit of searching, turns out _Newt_ is out of production. I will not research _Rio_ under any circumstances, on the grounds that the trailer is positively revolting, but somewhere within the giant list of superfluous celebrities it appeared to detail a plot in which the last two members of a species have a disastrous first date, which is exactly what the premise of _Newt_ was going to be. Highly rippy-offy.

ANYWAY… I think this chapter is a super-good one, so, read away.

**12. Glass Cabinet**

That night, Sid got home from work with grocery bags and the two toys he'd picked up.

"Hey, Ma!" he called. "I'm home!"

There was no answer.

"Where'd she run off to?" Sid wondered. "Well, anyway, Bo, Tiny, here's my house… could use some paint, I guess, but it's nice here." He set the groceries down in the kitchen and held up the miniscule orange cat.

"I'll take you up to my room," he said. "Clean you up, make you pretty again." He turned to Bo. "And you… well, not much I can do for you. You're already a flawless beauty, let's not mess with that. You go straight to the museum."

Sid took Bo up the stairs, into the place she recognized had once been Hannah's room… but not anymore. The entire place was lined with cabinets with glass doors, shelves floor-to-ceiling, covered with toys of every possible description.

Sid opened a cabinet and placed Bo in the exact center of a shelf. He closed the glass door and stepped back, tilting his sunglasses down. Satisfied with the way she looked, he held Tiny up to his eye level and began to walk out.

"I'm an expert at restoration," he told the cat. "I learned from the best. There's this guy Geri, I was his apprentice when I was in high school. You're gonna look magnificent."

Sid clicked the door shut. All over the walls, toys fondly watched him leave, before opening their doors and hopping out of their cabinets.

Bo couldn't help imitating their affectionate expressions. "Wow," she whispered to herself. "I'm impressed."

Someone cleared his throat right next to her. Bo turned, to see a pewter figurine of a six-limbed dragon, stretching out his spine and wings before reaching out a hand to her.

"Hello," he said. "I'm Ancient Red Dragon. Everybody calls me Ard."

"Bo Peep," she replied, shaking his hand. Ard stepped forward on his square base—that along with his monochrome appearance reminded Bo, with a twinge of pain, of the Bucket-O-Soldiers she'd once lived with.

"Very nice to meet you," Ard said. His voice was gravelly, with the faintest of Scottish accents.

Behind Ard, a plastic seahorse lifted himself from his usual position leaning against the corner and balanced himself on the curl of his tail. He was wearing a snazzy blue vest, topped by a yarmulke.

The seahorse bounced forward and wrapped the tip of his tail around Bo's hand. "Steve Hippocampus, ma'am," he said. "The pleasure's mine."

"Hi," Bo replied.

Someone on a lower shelf popped the door open, and toys began to file out. The seahorse wrapped his tail around Bo's waist. "Let's get you on the floor and introduce you to the room," he said.

"Um, I don't really… jump," Bo said apologetically. "I'm fragile. Porcelain, you know…"

"No problem," Ard said. "Bob Buttons! Here, Bob Buttons."

Bo straightened in surprise as a large feline face overtook her view of the room. For a brief moment, she'd thought it was an actual mountain lion—but after a second of observing its face and movements, she realized it was simply a life-sized and rather convincing stuffed velvet toy.

"Hop on," Ard said. "Hippocampus, let's be gentlemen and help her up…"

"Couldn't do otherwise," Hippocampus said, boosting Bo onto the mountain lion's head. The lion dropped back to all fours, with the three of them riding him across the room.

"Hello, everyone!" Ard called. "Meet our newest toy, Bo Peep!"

There were cheers among the toys in the room. Bo waved nervously—she'd never seen this kind of reception.

After the cheers were over, all the toys began talking amongst themselves, leaving Bo with the dragon and the seahorse atop Bob Buttons' head.

"So," Hippocampus said. "Where'd Sid get you?"

"Sorry?" Bo said, snapping to attention.

"Sid," Ard said clearly. "He gets around, you know, everywhere. Bob Buttons here, for instance, he got from a roadside stand on Route 66. Me, I'm from Goodwill. Had paint when I was donated. By the time he found me… well, it had been a long time. Sid's handy with a paintbrush, but he decided I'd look better in my original shiny sheen." He examined himself. "I have to agree with him."

"Yeah," Hippocampus said, "and I was at the yard sale of a bankrupt daycare. Sid scoured the whole place, and he picked me. And that's pretty special."

"So what about you?" Ard asked.

"His garbage route," Bo said quietly. "I was thrown out this morning, and he found me."

Ard tapped her shoulder. "Poor thing," he said. "Well, you belong to Sid now."

"He's saved every toy in this room?" Bo asked.

"Well, no," Hippocampus admitted. "Some he just buys. Sees 'em in a store, has to have 'em. Take a look at our shelf-mates."

Bob Buttons lowered himself to the ground, and the three of them stepped off, greeting a Barbie in a long red dress with furry white cuffs.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. "I'm Holiday Barbie 2009."

"Ooh, collectible," Bo said appreciatively. "You're not exactly cherry, though… out of the box."

"No, Sid doesn't believe in mint," Barbie said. "He thinks a toy should be held, and loved…" She put her hands over her heart. "He's so sweet."

Bo craned her neck to see their other shelf-mate. At first glance he appeared to be a Ken in a gray plaid suit, with red-brown, voluminous hair. As he turned around, Bo saw that his skin was as white as hers, and he pierced her with a pair of golden-yellow eyes.

"Um… um… um…" Bo stammered. "Hi, I'm… I'm, uh… um…"

The doll laughed. "I know," he said. "You're Bo Peep, the new girl." He shook her hand. "I'm Edward Cullen."

"Yeah, you are," Bo breathed.

He chuckled.

"I'm a big fan," Bo said. "I've seen all your movies…"

Edward held up his hands modestly. "I haven't been in any movies, Bo. I'm a commemorative _doll_."

"Oh," Bo said. "Still… commemorative. That's, um… pretty nice."

Edward flashed her a crooked smile, and she nearly swooned.

"Easy, Sparklepuss," Hippocampus said, steering Edward away. "Anyway, Bo, I'd like to welcome you to Sid's room."

"Truly," Ard agreed. "This room can _never_ have too many toys. You'll find that Sid loves us all. You are welcome among us."

"Thank you," Bo said quietly.

Bob Buttons gave a comforting, friendly growl.

"Good to have you here," Hippocampus added.

"Good to be here," Bo replied.

The toys heard Sid's bedroom door rattling open. "Sid's coming back, everyone," Ard announced. "Back to the shelves!"

The toys scrambled to their positions; Bob Buttons helped Bo get onto his shelf, and Ard and Hippocampus gracefully escorted her to her position before resuming their own. The cabinet door swung shut; Bo caught a glimpse of the huge velvet mountain lion getting into a resting position in the corner of the room.

Sid entered the room, dancing less-than-gracefully to the music blaring on his headphones. During one of his twirls, Barbie flashed Bo a cheerful smile.

Sid opened Bo's cabinet. "Here you are, Tiny," he said. "Good as new."

He set the cat right at Bo's feet. Her soft orange fur was perfectly clean, almost sparkling, and her formerly dim eyes were now painted a magnificent blue.

Sid shut the cabinet and looked at them. "Oh, that's nice," he said. "You two look good on this shelf. Stay a while, won't you?" He smiled at them, but the smile quickly became an expression of sadness.

"Well," he muttered, "I'll see all of you guys later."

Sid left.

Bo came to life, looking down at the cat, who looked back and brushed against her leg, purring.

"I remember you now," Bo said. "You were Molly's, weren't you?"

She bent down to pick Tiny up, stroking her. Bo looked to the other toys sharing her shelf, all of them looking eagerly at the two new arrivals.

"Oh, Sid," she said. "My, how you've grown." _In so many ways… _she added silently.


	13. Secrets

**Toy Fic**

**13. Secrets**

Barbie sat cross-legged at the entrance to the Dream House, lost in thought.

Zurg passed by, bowing to her. "Greetings, mistress," he said.

"Hi, Zurg," Barbie replied glumly.

The emperor looked around. "You know, I haven't seen Ken lately."

Barbie snapped. She leapt to her feet and grabbed Zurg by the shoulders. "Don't you think I know that?" she hissed. "This is _it_. I'll show him…"

She retreated into the Dream House rapidly.

Zurg turned to the Chatter Telephone. "What'd I say?"

Barbie emerged a few minutes later, dressed entirely in black—black turtleneck, black form-fitting jeans, black boots. She marched toward a group of toys who were playing cards.

"Excuse me, everyone!" she said loudly.

Stretch looked at her, then to the others. "Since when do they make a burglar Barbie?"

"Got me," Twitch said.

"Well, you know, showing kids a variety of career choices…" Sparks mused.

"It's 'Artiste'," Barbie said, "but throw on a ski cap and the fashion is transferable." She tugged a black ski cap over her hair. "Twitch, I need your scepter."

He passed it to her uncertainly. "What for?" he asked.

Barbie twirled it in her hands. Satisfied, she said, "We'll see how much playtime Ken gets after I've smashed his dune buggy to little bits."

She ran off. The crowd of toys quickly came after her.

"Hang on, hang on!" Twitch said. He managed to block her path and get a grip on his scepter. She didn't let go, and continued pushing. "Would somebody grab her?"

Stretch reached out a tentacle, but only managed to get it around Barbie's head, tugging her back and blindfolding her. Barbie continued running in place, her feet skidding across the floor.

"Don't try to stop me!" she said.

"Hey, dudes, what's—Barbie? Barbie, what's happening?"

Barbie stopped running and straightened, her vision still blocked by a long purple tentacle. "Ken! There you are! Who is she, Ken? Is she somebody from the McHappy Place? That would fit, wouldn't it. You don't just betray me, you betray the whole daycare!"

"Huh?" Ken shrieked. "What is she talking about?"

Twitch braced himself as Barbie continued trying to run forward. "Barbie, stop it…"

Stretch got a better grip on Barbie and turned to Ken. "Barbie Underwood here seems to think that you're involved with that secret affair that everyone's talking about."

Ken gasped. "What is she, crazy?"

"Don't call me crazy!" Barbie growled.

"Barbie, it's not him," Twitch said. "Ken's not cheating on you."

"But everyone's talking—"

"It's not him!" Twitch insisted.

"How do you know?" Barbie snapped.

Barbie felt her blindfold lift, and saw Stretch scuttle around to the front. "'Cause it's us," she said. "It's me and Twitch."

"It is?" Barbie said.

"Yeah," Twitch said. "After you guys started fixing what Lotso did, me and Stretch started talking. Remembering some of the horrible things we'd done, listing all of them for hopes of forgiveness… well, it was a bonding experience, repenting together."

"Yeah," Stretch said lovingly.

"Oh, that's precious, you guys," Ken said. "I thought it was never gonna happen."

Barbie blinked at Ken. "So… so you _don't_ have a floozy at the McHappy Place?"

"Oh, Barbie, don't be silly," Ken said.

"I'm never silly," Barbie said firmly. "Then why have you been so sneaky lately?"

Chatter Telephone rolled up. "Yeah," he said. "I think we're all wondering that."

Ken turned to the phone. "You already know."

"I hear things," the phone said modestly.

"Okay," Ken breathed. "Confession time, everyone. I was on Caterpillar Room duty about a week ago, and… my head came off."

To demonstrate, he lifted his head straight off his shoulders, holding it as high up as he could.

"Oh!" Barbie gasped, clutching her heart.

"Yeah," Ken said. "It hasn't fit on right ever since, and… well, I didn't want anyone to notice. I thought it would make everyone lose hope in the entire Caterpillar Room system."

"Oh, Ken," Barbie said. She took the head out of his hands and hugged it tightly. "You should have told someone! We all know your leadership is solid…" She held the head at arm's length, looking at it lovingly. "Please never keep a secret again," she said. She brought the head in close, kissing it.

"I'm sorry," Ken's head muttered. Barbie held him up for the entire crowd, and he said, "I'm really sorry, everyone. No more secrets."

"Let's get you all fixed up," Stretch said. "Twitch, honey, get his body."

"Sure thing, babe," Twitch said, scooping it up along with his scepter. The four of them set off for the repair spa, Barbie cradling the detached head.

Chatter Telephone, Sparks, and Zurg watched them go.

"Well," Chatter said. "Another caper solved… boy, that Barbie. She can be a fierce dame when she wants to. Remind me never to cross the line with her."

"Yeah," Sparks agreed. "Talking of dames, I thought Stretch would never get old bug-breath pinned down, did you?"

"Oh, no kidding," Chatter said. "Good for them, right Chunk? …Chunk?"

They turned to Chunk. The rock-warrior was thinking, if his contorted, pained expression was any indicator.

"You okay, Chunk?" Sparks asked.

"Yeah…" Chunk said. "So, wait, Stretch is a woman?"

Sparks crackled in surprise. "What, you didn't know that?"

"Uh… no, I knew. I musta just forgot at some point."

Zurg turned to the others. "What's wrong with him?"

"Who, Chunk?" Sparks asked. "Nothin', he's just not the brightest bulb in the place where they keep the bulbs."

Chunk smirked. "Uh, that'd be the Christmas tree, Sparks."

There was a short silence.

"Wow," Zurg commented.

"Unbelievable," Chatter murmured.

"I'm leaving," Sparks said, wheeling away.


	14. Gifts

**Toy Fic**

**14. Gifts**

Christmas day had finally come, and Bonnie's toys were huddled together in her room, gathered around the Potato Heads to find out what to expect.

The Potato Heads had placed their eyes at strategic intervals around the living room, so that standing in Bonnie's room, they could convey what they saw to everyone else.

"Okay," Mr. Potato Head said. "Bonnie's starting off with a big one… see-through box, and we've got… 'Hopticopter', a very chic remote-controlled helicopter."

"A helicopter?" Woody repeated. "Well, that's not so intimidating…"

Jessie fidgeted nervously. "A _big_ helicopter, taters?"

"Huge," Mr. Potato Head confirmed. "Big enough to lift your boyfriend and his pool ball butt, if you can believe that."

"Pool ball butt?" Buzz demanded.

"Yeah. You know. Unusually round and heavy."

Buzz stammered. "Jessie, tell him I'm not a pool ball butt…"

Jessie tapped his back. "I like your body the way it is, Buzz."

"…So, I _am_ a pool ball butt?"

"Quit while you're ahead, Buzz," Woody offered. "Next present, guys?"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Okay," Mr. Potato Head said. "Wrapping paper coming off, and we're getting logos. I see Barbie, I see Disney, and… yes, it's a five-pack of Disney Princesses."

Dolly slouched.

"Which ones?" Hamm asked.

"I see them, I don't know the names. Honey, you have a view? There should be labels with their names."

Mrs. Potato Head strained. "Okay, left to right, it's… Mulan, Jasmine, Rapunzel in the middle… then Tiana, and Belle."

"Ooh, modern package," Hamm said. "None earlier than 1990. Brains and spunk are a given. There will be no rescuing them, adventures are purely collaborative. Are you up to that, Woody?"

Woody turned uncertainly to Dolly. She caught his eye, then stood up and went under the bed.

Woody felt a prick of irritation. _Fine, be that way,_ he thought. "Wouldn't have it any other way, Hamm," he said. "I couldn't deal with one of those sleepers from the early years. No independence at all."

"Well," Hamm said, "unless Bonnie gets a five-pack of Shang, Aladdin, Flynn, Naveen, and the Beast, I think you're in."

"You know all the names?" Mr. Potato Head demanded. "Hamm, you're a dork and you should feel bad."

"I'm informed," Hamm corrected smugly.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Okay, it's a smaller box," Mrs. Potato Head said. "Oh, it's one of those Bratz fashion dolls. Ooh, I don't care for those poor young ladies and the way they dress…"

"Don't concern yourself," Hamm said. "I think they can deal."

"Who would get a four-year-old a doll dressed like that?" Mrs. Potato Head demanded.

"Well, I'm sure she'll make Bonnie happy anyway," Hamm said. "It's not like she understands the—"

"Don't they get cold?" Mrs. Potato Head wondered.

"Okay, enough editorials, you're killing me," Hamm said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"And we're at the final toy!" Mr. Potato Head announced. "Okay, it's tiny. Blue, roundish. Oh, Bonnie's super-excited, people. We're doomed."

"What exactly is it?" Woody asked.

"Oh, I don't know!" Mr. Potato Head exclaimed, waving his arms wildly. "We goofed up, we should have brought an ear… they're talking about it, I can't see it! Ohhhh, she loves it. Fellas, we're all gonna die."

"Relax, Potato Head," Woody said. "It's just another new toy…"

"Anyway, that was all of her gifts," Mrs. Potato Head said. She reached her arms over to the antenna of one of the Aliens. "Darlings, can you go to the living room and get Mommy and Daddy's eyes?"

The Aliens nodded and started bobbing off noisily. Woody looked at them, concerned, and said, "Chuckles, can you go with them?"

He regretted it immediately—would an original "Bonnie's toy" take his orders? Especially with Dolly so upset with him? But Chuckles simply nodded and followed the Aliens out. Woody dismissed his worry.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

A few minutes later, Bonnie came into the room with her arms full of her five Disney Princesses. "Look, everybody!" she said. "I have five princesses." She leaned them all against the wall near her door. "I don't have a dollhouse," Bonnie said thoughtfully, then her face brightened. "I'll make one myself! I'm gonna go get the rest of the new friends now!" She ran off, and the princesses hoisted themselves to their feet.

"What a sweet little girl," Mulan said.

"And did you see her beautiful hazel eyes?" Jasmine asked.

Rapunzel hugged the other princesses closer. "I think we hit the jackpot, girls," she said happily. She looked around the room, noticing other toys. "Oh, hi!"

They all froze again when Bonnie came back with the helicopter and its remote, the Bratz doll, and the mysterious blue item. "Here you are!" she said, setting them all down. "Oh! I know! I need to get a picture of all my toys! I'll be back with the camera!" She tripped, her socks slipping on the floor, then got to her feet and skidded back into the hall.

A group of toys came closer to get a look at the new arrivals. The helicopter righted itself, facing Woody. "Hopticopter, huh?" he said. "I'm Woody."

The helicopter happily whirred its motor in response. Hamm and Mr. Pricklepants came in to get a look at Bonnie's final toy, the one that had excited her the most. It was stuffed, electric-blue and almost spherical apart from the bumpy ridges going around its edges. On one side, it had a pair of glittery eyes, and on the other side, a bright orange tag reading _Giant Microbes_, and below that, _Common Cold_.

The toy blinked, looking around at the room. Mr. Pricklepants squinted at him carefully. "And what on earth are _you_ suposed to be?" he whispered.


	15. Great Toys

**Toy Fic**

Well, there are now eight new toys in Bonnie's room. Hopefully not too hard to keep track. Returning to the origin of OC's, not a whole lot to say about them. Bratz, Giant Microbes, and Disney Princess Barbies, of course, actually exist. As for the last one, Hopticopter, my family are remote-controlled helicopter aficionados, and I thought that would be fun to add in Bonnie's room. A huge one, and the name Hopticopter is just the way the older of my two little sisters used to pronounce the word "helicopter".

Well, there's the insight into my mind that you were asking for.

Oh, no one asked? Okay, sorry.

**15. Great Toys**

"No, I've heard of these," Hamm said. "Giant Microbes. They're the latest thing."

"Is that right?" Jessie said, bending down to get a good look.

The microbe blinked up at her. "Well, hey there, cowgirl."

Jessie straightened up in alarm. The toy clearly had no mouth, but had just spoken to her in a resonant bass voice.

"Um, hi there," Jessie said. "So… what exactly are you, again?"

"I'm the common cold, baby. No cure for me." He winked at her.

"…Right," Jessie said.

Trixie scooped up the remote control for Hopticopter. "Oh, what fun!" she said.

"I want to fly him!" Rex said. He turned to the helicopter. "So, where are you from?"

Hopticopter whirred its motor.

"Ooh, really?" Rex said.

"That's _thrilling_!" Trixie gasped.

The Bratz doll got to her feet and looked around. She spotted someone under the bed and eased her way through the crowd. Resting her hands against the bedframe, she leaned down to see Dolly, fidgeting with pieces from a board game.

"Hey," the Bratz doll said. "Are you okay in there?"

"Fine," she said.

"I'm Cleo."

"Dolly," Dolly muttered.

"So, what's up?" Cleo said. "Don't like new toys?"

"No, that's fine," Dolly sighed. "It's the _current_ crowd of toys that are bugging me…"

"Yeah?" Cleo said. "I don't really like crowds much, either." She stood silently for a moment, as Dolly barely looked at her. "Well, I'm gonna mingle," Cleo finally said. "You're gonna be okay?"

"Just fine," Dolly whispered.

A few minutes later, Bonnie returned with a camera, and began setting up all of the toys on the windowsill and a shelf below it.

"Buzz and Jessie together," Bonnie said, placing each one's arms around the other. "Woody on this side, and Mr. Cold, you can go right here and… um… where's Dolly?"

She began to search around the room, lifting and moving things. The common cold turned to Jessie and whispered, "You hear that? I'm Mr. Cold."

Jessie snorted, not quite holding back her laughter. "Shush," she said.

Bonnie peeked under the bed, snatching Dolly out from underneath. She held her in one hand, then took Woody in the other.

"Now, you two have a lot of responsibilities," Bonnie said. "You're the glue! Without you guys the whole room falls apart!" She looked from one to the other, as if expecting a contradiction. "Seriously," she finished, setting them side by side at the head of the group, Woody's arm around Dolly.

Bonnie's mom entered. "Bonnie, Grandma's here for Christmas dinner."

Bonnie hopped in the air excitedly. "Yay!" she said. "Wait, I have to take this picture."

Her mom looked at them. "Is that _all_ of your toys?"

"Uh-huh," Bonnie said. She snapped the photo, then looked at the screen to make sure they were all there.

"You lucky girl," Mom said. "Come to dinner now, sweetie."

Bonnie and her mom left, and Dolly instantly shoved Woody away and dropped to the floor, walking off. Woody, his own arm wrapped around his neck, eased himself off of the toy chest and turned to the new arrivals.

"Well, hello," he said. "I'm Woody, and this is Bonnie's room. We'd like to give you all a warm welcome and urge you to make yourselves comfortable."

All the other toys began to hop to the floor, the princesses looking around curiously.

"Is she okay?" Jasmine asked, pointing to the reatreating Dolly.

"Oh, I don't know," Woody said, shrugging. "I hope so…"

Tiana spread her arms and took in the light of the room. "This is so crazy thrilling," she said. "I always dreamed of a little girl's bedroom."

Woody smiled at her. "You're gonna love Bonnie," he said.

Woody felt a tap on his shoulder, and found Mulan standing behind him.

"Hey," he said. "What can I help you with?"

"Oh, nothing," she said. She held out a hand, and Woody reached out to shake it, only to have her twist it and throw him over her shoulder.

As Woody's entire body slammed into the ground, the crowd of toys gasped and backed away nervously. Mulan held up two pencils and tossed one to Woody. "Prepare yourself," she said.

She ran at him, preparing a backhand strike with her pencil, which Woody tried to block. The force of her blow was too great, and Woody rolled over. He finally got to his feet and, confused, slashed at Mulan with the pencil. She parried with one hand and performed a powerful downward strike to his head.

Woody ducked, and his foot slipped. He fell to his knees, giving Mulan height advantage for a strike to his head. Woody lifted his hand, successfully blocking her pencil with his own. He looked up at her uncertainly, their pencils still locked together.

Mulan dropped her weapon, then helped Woody to his feet. "I apologize," she said. "But I find you don't truly know someone until you've fought them."

Woody rubbed his head, not letting go of the pencil in his hand. "Well, how'd I do?"

Mulan smiled at him. "Oh, quite well… yes, very, _very_ well."

She turned around, and Woody watched her walk away. She looked over her shoulder, smirking again.

"Wow," Woody said.

Then, he ducked as Bullseye, Slinky, and the Aliens passed above him, whirling around dangling from the cheerful Hopticopter, steered by Trixie. Woody smiled.

Mr. Pricklepants wrapped an arm around the cold microbe. "So, Mr. Cold," he said. "You have such a marvelous bass voice—have you ever performed in theatre?"

"Well, I always wanted to," Mr. Cold replied. "Except—WHOA!" He looked up as the Bratz doll Cleo walked past. "How'd I walk past this one?" He bobbed after her.

The pod rolled over to Belle and Rapunzel and unzipped. The Peas looked up at them.

"Are you real princesses?" Peanelope asked.

Rapunzel shrugged. "It's kind of fifty-fifty."

"Yes," Belle agreed. "We're not entirely… oh! Rapunzel, look at all these books!"

Belle and Rapunzel ran over to Bonnie's little bookshelf. Woody laughed at their excitement, but paused when he saw Dolly, sitting on top of the bookshelf, looking straight down at the two of them.

"Hey, princesses," Dolly said. "You know what's a good book? _The Velveteen Rabbit_." She propped up the large hardcover.

"The what rabbit?" Mr. Potato Head said. "Doesn't Bonnie's grandma make fudge with that stuff?"

"That's Velveeta," Dolly said. "Anyway, _Velveteen Rabbit_. I highly recommend it."

"Ooh, toss it down!" Belle said, holding up her hands.

"It's a classic," Dolly said, looking at the book fondly. "I'm convinced that the author had some high-tech method of spying on her toys, because it really speaks to me."

Dolly tossed the book down to Belle, who caught it, set it down, and opened it with Rapunzel's help.

"Yeah," Dolly said with a faint smile. "Real good book. But, you know, it also brings up a theme about… the difficulties of being real." She looked straight at Woody. "You know, a lot of toys think that life is pretty difficult, but compare it with the things that actual people go through… well, we have it all right."

Belle and Rapunzel were oblivious, lying on their stomachs to relax while looking at the book. Woody and Dolly stared at each other for a few moments.

"Are we okay, Dolly?" Woody asked.

"Could be," Dolly said evasively.

"'Cause, you know… what Bonnie said to us…" Woody said.

"Nailed it," Dolly said. "She's absolutely right. I mean, there's no Bonnie's room without me… and you. Yeah, me and you."

"'Cause about what happened the other day…" Woody muttered. "It really wasn't my idea… well, you know Rex and Hamm and Potato Head and Slink… I mean, have you ever really _spoken_ to them? Do you know how stupid they all are?"

"Well…"

"No, really, they're stupid. They once spent an afternoon being bossed around by a total stranger because they thought he was Buzz. They're morons, Dolly."

"Well, I'd like to hear that story," Dolly said. "Although, you know, you're not exactly a genius yourself, cowboy."

Woody chuckled. "But we're good, you and me, right?"

"Yeah," Dolly said. "Yeah, we're good. I mean, I know what you've gone through… you… you know, you could use somebody."

Woody looked around the room… he saw Rapunzel's bare feet rubbing together excitedly, her toes wiggling… Tiana in her soft blue gown, Jasmine's outfit baring her midriff as she stretched…

He looked up at Dolly again.

"You get 'em, cowboy," Dolly said.


	16. Bo's Mind

**Toy Fic**

Here's another "origin of OCs" bit. This'll be more interesting than the first, as I gave a lot more thought to Sid's toys than to Bonnie's new ones.

First off, we have **Tiny**. As a very young boy, I enjoyed the company of a stuffed cat which I called Tiny. Its decription doesn't really resemble what I've written about her in the story, but I figured the cat, and its name, would be a good way to introduce Sid. Then there's **Ard**, who is based on the old _Dungeons & Dragons_ figurines made out of pewter. Old school! **Steve Hippocampus** is a character who's been fermenting in my mind since my childhood, a smooth-talking, gentlemanly seahorse. In my old drawings of him, he's a realistic seahorse, then later on I decided to throw a snazzy vest on him. His universe has long since crumbled, then I decided to put him in here as a toy. The idea for the final addition to his attire, a yarmulke, came about five minutes ago. Figure of speech, but the realization that Steve was Jewish was so charming, I had to run with it. I came up with **Bob Buttons** as something of a mode-of-transportation for Sid's toys. Originally I wanted him to be a taxidermic mountain lion, but I found that it was a bit morbid, so I simply made him a very convincing life-sized _toy_ mountain lion. For added cuteness and sleekness, I made him out of velvet.

Moving on, every year around Christmas my sister starts obsessing about the yearly **Holiday Barbie**. This year, she finally got her hands on the 2010 model. I decided that Sid would have the 2009, to indicate that he's possessed her for a moderate amount of time. And finally, we come to the breakout character of Sid's room, **Edward Cullen**. When searching the Barbie aisle for a gift to the aforementioned sister, I happened upon the Twilight Saga Barbies. And lo, I knew immediately that I was writing Edward into Toy Fic. Hopefully, he'll be a character whom the readers find humorous whether you love _Twilight_ or hate it. Me, I like it. But like I said, it shouldn't matter.

ANYWAY… turns out the two Bo-and-Sid centric chapters are the two longest chapters of Toy Fic. This was completely unintentional, and, well, I'm guessing this one will continue the tradition, if only because of this massive Author's Note.

Moving on, a shout-out to Reeves3 for scouring the entirety of "Toy Fic" so far with a review for every chapter. You rule. Everybody else, what happened with chapter 15? Nobody reviewed…

**16. Bo's Mind**

It was a late, cold winter's night.

Sid and his mother were away for Christmas, at some family function or another. Some of the toys in the small museum had been traveling around the house for a few hours, but Bo was only just deciding to leave her cabinet. She called for Bob Buttons, and the huge cat reached up to gently get her to the ground.

"Ah, here she is," Ard said happily. "Oh, Bo, look. Mistletoe!"

Ard held it up above his own head. Bo laughed and kissed him on the forehead.

"I hope you're enjoying yourself," Ard said. "We all worry about you, you know."

Bo chuckled. "Don't be silly… I'm feeling a lot better. Refreshed… new home… Christmas. I'm happy, Ard. Don't be concerned."

"You can take care of yourself, yeah?" Ard said.

"Yeah," Bo agreed. "I'm fine."

All around the house, toys were enjoying themselves at various activities. Bo spotted the rest of her shelf group at the top of the stairs, where Hippocampus, Barbie, and Edward were rolling a rubber bouncy-ball around between themselves while Tiny watched.

"I got it!" Hippocampus said, diving for the ball. He missed it, and began hopping after. Bo stopped it beneath her sheep crook.

"Oh, thanks, Bo," Hippocampus said. "You're finally out and about."

"No trouble," Bo said. "Merry Christmas, Steve."

Steve lifted his tail up over his head to point to the yarmulke he wore.

"Oh, my apologies," Bo said, smiling.

"It's all good. But, uh, on the subject, if you see anybody from Sid's mom's nativity set, don't tell them where I am."

"I got your back," Bo said, handing him the rubber ball.

Steve balanced it on the tip of his tail. He stared at the ball for a moment, before he looked back up at Bo. "You know, I'm, ah… very expensive. As a toy, I'm, uh, worth a lot."

"Oh, I can tell," Bo said.

He fumbled with the ball for a moment. "Um… ah, where's Ard with that mistletoe?"

"There's no need for that, Steve," Bo said, kissing him.

She started down the stairs. Getting to the first-floor landing, she realized that something small was tumbling noisily down the stairs. Turning around, she saw Tiny, who was actually taking very graceful leaps from one step to the next. On the landing, Tiny danced over to Bo's feet.

"Hey, Bo," she said, rubbing up against her. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I don't know," Bo said. "Maybe the front porch…" She went out the open front door—no other toys were in that immediate vicinity. She sat down on the top step, and Tiny curled up in her lap and purred.

"Good kitty," Bo muttered. Tiny was clearly not asking for conversation—Bo was free to think about things. Her past, her loves…

Too painful. Who was her love now? Well, Sid, obviously. He was a grown man, but he was her kid, and she was his toy. She imagined the mutant toys that Sid had owned as a child… they can't have enjoyed their life. But now, being called Sid's toy was one of the greatest honors Bo could imagine.

"Hi, Bo," said a voice.

Bo opened her eyes. Edward was standing behind her, tossing and catching the red rubber ball to himself.

"Oh, hi, Edward," Bo said. "Just enjoying the moonlight on the snow…"

"Yeah," Edward said. "Listen, I'm morbidly curious… and I've been wondering this ever since you came here—" He sat down next to here, reaching over an arm to pet Tiny. "How is it that you remember what Sid was like as a child?"

Bo pointed to the house next door. "Oh, I used to live right… there…" Bo trailed off as she realized what an odd question that was. "Wait a minute, what?"

Edward smiled. "I'm sorry, I should have mentioned… I read minds."

"What?" Bo demanded.

Edward adjusted his seat. "Right now, here talking to you, I can hear the thoughts of every single toy in this house." He grinned. "And while it's not much of a pick-up line, you're no exception."

"But…" Bo stammered. "How's that even possible?"

"I'm not saying it's possible," Edward said. "But it's… well, it's true. Think about it, though. How are _you_ possible? Your eyes and mouth are nothing but paint on porcelain. You shouldn't be able to see, or hear, or speak. Any rational adult—except for Sid, of course—would say that you can't, that it's not possible. But here we are."

"Yeah," Bo said. "Here we are… ain't that the truth."

"So, you lived next door to this very house," Edward said. "About eleven years ago. Why are you trying not to remember…?" He paused, and his inquisitive expression was replaced by one of serenity. "Woody," he said. "The cowboy you loved."

Bo stared. "Could you not do that?" she said.

"Sorry," Edward said. "It's sort of just who I am."

"Yeah, the old mind-guy takes some getting used to," Hippocampus said. He was coming out to the porch. Behind him came Barbie, Ard, and Bob Buttons.

"So what's that about a cowboy?" Hippocampus asked.

"Woody," Bo said. "He was my boyfriend, for a couple of years with the Davis family. In this house we lived in the same room, but he was Andy's and I was Molly's, and after the move Molly got her own room."

"Didn't get to see him as much, huh?" Barbie said.

"No, I did," Bo said. "I always thought of Andy as my kid. I'd go down the hall every chance I got. Maybe it makes me a bad toy, that I didn't devote my life to Molly like a toy's supposed to… but that didn't matter, because Andy wasn't really my 'one love' either."

"Your eyes," Edward muttered. "They were on Woody, always on Woody."

"Yeah," Bo admitted. "I know that's wrong…"

"No, no," Edward said. "I see it, you…"

"You loved him," Barbie said. "You loved your cowboy! That's so sweet!"

"So what happened?" Hippocampus said quietly.

"Well, I know he loved me too. But he loved Andy more. Andy was his world. So, he was _normal_, I guess, as a toy. And when Andy got older, Woody's loyalty was only to him. If Andy wanted to get rid of a toy, Woody was pretty sad, but he told everyone they had to respect the owner's choices. And when Molly got tired of a toy…" Bo closed her eyes, finding herself choking up. "Well, there wasn't much Woody could do about it."

Bo took a breath. "So, I was sold. To the old widow two houses down. I thought about Woody, and his devotion, and… well, I never went back. One house separating us, and I was too scared to ever see him again." She looked up. "And now I'm ever farther away. Too far away… like it wasn't enough when my lamp was knocked off the shelf with my sheep and…" Bo sobbed and heaved with anguish. "Oh, God, my sheep! Shattered on the… the ground and… and Woody… he was always out of reach. Now he's really, _really_ out of reach."

Bo continued to sob into her hands. She was mildly aware of Tiny in her lap, the other toys staring at her. She was ashamed; her new friends hadn't ever seen that kind of weakness from her… no one had.

"You want to find him," Edward said.

"What?" Bo muttered.

"You do," Edward said. "Take my word for it."

"But… that's not possible," Tiny said. "How could you find him?"

Bo thought about that. She set Tiny to the side and stood up. "Well…" she muttered. "As far as I know, they still live in the same place on Elm Street, two houses from where Sid picked me up… Right?" She turned to Tiny, who nodded uncertainly.

"And we lived _here_," Bo added thoughtfully. "And… the moving van…"

Without realizing it, Bo had walked right to the middle of the dark street. She looked way off into the darkness.

"No, I know the way," Bo said. "I can find him."

Edward smiled crookedly. "Well, good. Bob Buttons, go fetch Sid's skateboard, would you?"

Bob Buttons nodded and loped up the stairs. "His… skateboard?" Bo said, confused.

"Yes," Edward said. "It will help us move quickly and stay together."

"We? What we?"

"Well, we're coming _with_ you," Hippocampus said. "I mean, obviously."

"WHAT?" Bo demanded.

"Yeah," Ard agreed. "Can't let you make that big journey alone."

Bob Buttons returned, holding Sid's skateboard in his mouth. He set it down on the sidewalk, and all of Bo's shelf-mates hopped aboard.

"Let's get going, Bo," Edward said. "You _are_ coming, aren't you?"

"Wait—" Bo said.

"We're all going with ya," Hippocampus interrupted. "Get used to the idea."

"But—"

"No. That's final."

"WAIT!" Bo bellowed. "You guys, what about Sid?"

Everyone paused. "Er… Sid?" Ard muttered.

"Yeah, Sid!" Bo snapped. "Don't you think you owe him something? Come on, he's taken good care of all of us. Some of you guys for years! You're just going to take off and leave him?"

Ard hopped off the skateboard. "Bo's right," he said. "We _do_ owe Sid something."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

When Sid returned, he would find his central shelf almost empty. In place of the toys, he would see a sheet of paper with a note, hand-written in black ink.

_Dear Sid,_

_You're a good man, the kind of man every toy hopes their kid will grow up to be. You've taken us in, and we'll be forever grateful. But we have lives of our own, Sid, and now it's time that we pursue them. We'll never forget you. May we meet again. Never give up on your dream. Someday, all toys will recognize your perfect soul, and they'll speak to you._

_Lots of love from Ard, Steve, Bob Buttons, Barbie, Edward, and Bo_

And on top of the note would be Tiny, sitting there, looking up at him with her sweet smile frozen on her face.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**A/N:** See, look at that, I broke 2,000 words. Wish I could do that with chapters that had to do with the central characters, but, what can I do.


	17. The Gathering

**Toy Fic**

Making obscure pop-culture references doesn't really work for me when there are three people, tops, reading this story. But I enjoy it. And by the way, completely by accident, I fulfilled my promise to greatly extend the length of a chapter surrounding the main characters. Yay me!

**17. The Gathering**

Woody spotted something sticking out of Bonnie's backpack. "Hey, look," he said. "I think that's another letter from Sunnyside." He pulled it out as everyone quietly gathered around.

"Yeah, that's them all right," Woody said. "Okay, everyone… _Dear Bonnie's Toys_—"

"Oh, that's for me," Dolly interrupted, taking the note away. "_Dear Bonnie's Toys_…"

"Hey howdy hey, I'm Bonnie's toy too!" Woody said, plucking it right out of her hands. "Okay… anyway… _Dear Bonnie's Toys, we'd like to invite you to our first rugby game against the McHappy Place location across the street… _wow, that rivalry's really picking up, I guess! Midnight tonight… but we can't leave Bonnie alone for a night, can we?"

"Sure we can," Dolly countered. "She sleeps through the night, always has. We'll sneak out and be back for a morning playtime."

"What, all of us?" Woody said. "Dolly, is that a—"

"Good idea? Oh yeah."

Everyone exchanged glances, clearly not quite agreeing with Dolly's plans.

"Come on, guys!" Dolly said. "Where's your sense of adventure? We're _all_ going to Sunnyside, baby."

"Actually, the match is at the McHappy Place," Woody said, looking at the letter.

"All right, even farther!" Dolly said. "Let's do this thing. We'll break off into teams so that nobody gets lost, and we'll march straight down the street, all the way to the game! I'll stick with Buzz, Jessie, and Woody. Everybody else, divide into groups of five." Dolly confidently strutted out the door.

"Dolly," Woody called. "It's not for another nine hours."

Dolly returned. "Right."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"An entire army of toys walking down the street," Jessie said. "Isn't that a bit suspicious."

"If by 'suspicious' you mean 'awesome', then yes," Dolly agreed.

The two of them, along with Woody and Buzz, were leading the midnight march down the street, everyone in small groups as Dolly had directed. It was, indeed, not unlike a marching toy army.

The five princesses had, predictably, formed a group. The two Potato Heads gathered with their three Alien children, while Totoro and Buttercup tenderly kept guard over the Peas, who bounced happily down the street without their pod. Rex, Trixie, Hamm, Slinky, and Bullseye were gathered in a little ragtag band of animals, while Hopticopter rumbled down the street on its wheels, while Mr. Pricklepants, Mr. Cold, Cleo, and Chuckles dangled off its tail.

Dolly was strolling along like she ruled the world and everything in it, and Woody was definitely noticing her increased confidence. "Why are you so happy?" he asked.

"Well, it's life, isn't it?" Dolly said. "If you're not laughing, you're crying, and I don't have a reason to be sad, now do I?"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The toys stacked themselves up to open the back entrance, and all hopped down the stairs to the basement, where they met a group of toys, some familiar and some not.

"Hi, everyone!" Barbie said happily. She ran up to hug Woody and Jessie. "I've missed you guys so much!"

Jessie twirled her around. "Nice of ya to say, Barbie," she said. "It's hard, livin' in different places, isn't it?"

"Oh, but it's a nice life here," Barbie said. "I'm really happy here with Ken."

"Yeah," Jessie said. "It's nice, falling in love, isn't it?" She set Barbie down and took Buzz's hand.

Barbie's hand fluttered against her heart. "That's so sweet!"

"Yeah," Jessie said. "I only just told him I love him…"

"Aw, and you meant it, didn't you?"

"Well, I was out of my mind from the dryer, but… yeah," Jessie said. She kissed Buzz's cheek. "He's my spaceman," she said sweetly. "Though I've always thought something was missing… hey, Tiana, let me see your crown for a minute."

Tiana removed her sparkly tiara and gave it to Jessie, who planted it firmly on Buzz's head.

"Yeah, that's more like it," Jessie said.

"Big improvement," Tiana agreed.

Buzz grumbled, but made no move to take the crown off, as his attention had just been grabbed by Emperor Zurg, staring at him from across the room.

"Zurg," Buzz whispered. He turned to Barbie. "Is he with you?"

"Yeah," she said. "He's a real part of the Sunnyside crew, all right. Why don't you go over and say hello?"

With a little nudge from Jessie, Buzz stepped forward and did so. Zurg was standing in the midst of some other toys, of which he was the tallest—Twitch and Stretch were hand in hand, and a number of other former goons were gathered as well. Buzz cleared his throat.

"So we finally meet, Buzz Lightyear," Zurg said.

Buzz nodded. "It's a good night for it, Zurg. What's on your mind?"

"I hear you do a mean _paso doble_. Can you teach me to do it?"

"I think I can manage that, yes."

Three tiny green soldiers bobbed out of the Sunnyside crowd and walked right up to Woody, saluting him.

"Is that you guys?" Woody said, delighted. "I heard that you landed here! How is everything going?"

"Well, it's retirement," Sarge said. "There's nothing more than that you can say."

Stretch nudged Twitch, who nodded and stepped toward Buzz. "Hey, Lightyear," he said. "We, uh, wanted to say—nice tiara, by the way—we know we've done some stuff to you, and your family… and you know we're sorry, right? About the Demo Mode thing, and everything?"

"What Demo Mode thing?" Buzz asked.

"What, you mean you don't know?" Twitch said.

"Don't know what?" Buzz demanded.

Twitch stammered for a moment, before he and his cohorts ran away as fast as they could.

Buzz turned to Jessie. "What Demo Mode thing?" he asked.

"Nothing, Buzz," Jessie said. "The game's gonna start."

Some boxes in the basement had been stacked up to form bleachers, while the floor was the rugby field. A few prominent Sunnyside toys lined up in the field, against some vicious-looking creatures from the McHappy Place.

Barbie sat on Ken's lap in the front row of spectators. Cleo came over to sit next to them.

"Hey," she said.

Barbie nodded at her, then did a double-take. "Aren't you a Bratz doll?"

"Yeah, name's Cleo. You?"

"I'm Barbie… a Barbie."

"No kidding," Cleo said. She began to sing under her breath, "_I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world, wrapped in plastic, it's fantastic…"_

"Ken," Barbie said, tugging on his shirt collar—a rugby uniform, as one would expect. "Ken, she's singing that song…"

Ken nodded. "Catchy."

Barbie's pitiful squeal was drowned out by the intercom. Two small, die-cast metal robots were at the highest seats in the basement. One was red with no eyes, only a transparent bubble that made up the top of his head. The other was gold with spindly limbs, a blunt beak, a net on the back of his head, and a pair of beady eyes that darted back and forth wildly.

"Hello," the red robot boomed. "Welcome, all, to the first of many friendly rugby matches between Sunnyside Daycare and the McHappy Place. I'm Tom Servo, here with my friend Crow T. Robot. Crow?"

"That's right, Tom," the gold robot honked. "The rivalry between neighborhood daycare Sunnyside and this particular McHappy Place location has gone on for many years. With the recent overthrowing of Sunnyside's strawberry-scented dictator, a constructive brotherhood has emerged."

"And the games begin," Tom said. "Each location has chosen the finest of their communities, to show the other team what they're made of."

"Well, that's plastic, right?" Crow said.

"For the most part, Crow, yes, but as you'll see, some of the toys on the team are made of rubber, plush, even metal…"

"Anyway, the action has begun. Sunnyside Daycare has long been appreciated in these suburbs as a powerful learning environment for children of all ages, whereas the McHappy Place is a corporate monstrosity drinking the blood of gullible consumers nation-wide."

"Crow, _we_'re from the McHappy Place," Tom pointed out.

"I've been thinking about converting," Crow admitted. "Anyway, what's going on down there in the field?"

"Well, apparently, that's rugby. I don't really know the rules."

"Yeah, me neither."

A scuffle in the field had led to several players having to be benched. Twitch and the Monkey returned to the Sunnyside end of the field.

"We're out," Twitch said. "We need two more guys. Ken?"

Ken stood up. "Sure thing, Twitch."

Barbie gasped. "But Ken… your tricky head…"

"No worries," Ken said. "This is my zone of terror. Hi-yah! They're gonna have a hard time so much as touching my head."

"Who else can we get in?" Twitch muttered. "How about you, cowboy?"

Woody shook his head. "Not my thing. I prefer a different sort of action, with the use of props, and the environment… a field sport doesn't really appeal to me."

"Noted," Twitch muttered. "But we need somebody to take the Monkey's place as the… whoa… what about that guy?" He pointed.

Dolly turned her head. "Who, Totoro? I don't think he's…"

"But he's huge!" Chunk interrupted. "Look at him, he's gotta be, like, two feet tall. We gotta get him in there."

Dolly shrugged. "Up to you, Ro."

Totoro hopped into the field.

"Demo Mode," Buzz said suddenly.

Jessie turned to him, uncertainly.

"Demo Mode!" Buzz said again. "Jessie, I… I need to talk to you in private."

Buzz passed the silver crown back to Tiana and pulled Jessie's hand. The two of them weaved through the grandstands and into a shadowy corner of the basement.

"What is it, Buzz?" Jessie whispered.

"I remember now," Buzz said. "Lotso had a manual… and he said, 'to return your Buzz Lightyear action figure to its original factory settings, slide the switch from Play to Demo'…" He looked at Jessie, terrified. "And then, more than twenty-four hours of… my mind is a blank."

"Look, don't worry about it, Buzz," Jessie said. "Nothing happened."

"Original factory settings," Buzz quoted again. "When I was factory-fresh, first out of the box… I thought I was real. The actual Buzz Lightyear, awakening from hypersleep… did they—I mean, _he_, he Lotso—did he manage to delude me again?"

Jessie sighed. "You get so tangled up in your words around me, I forget how sharp you actually are," she said.

"What did I say?" Buzz demanded. "Jessie, what did I _do_?"

Jessie took his hand. "You did your duty as a Space Ranger. That's all you need to know. Now let's get back to the game."

She led him back.

"But…" Buzz muttered. "But then, how did you fix me?"

"Well, it wasn't easy," Jessie admitted. "There was a reset button, and then a little hit on the head with a big TV… and, as it turns out, there's a third 'you', but I'd rather not talk about him."

She turned her head as quickly as she could to hide her smile. Buzz mistook her quaking laughter for sobs.

"What did I _do_?" he wondered again. He turned to Slinky for help.

Slinky shrugged. "We knew it wasn't you, Buzz. Funny thing, though—it seems like no matter what setting you're in, you're always attracted to Jessie."

"I am?"

"Yeah. I remember you said something to her, like, 'your emperor is defeated, and I'm immune to your bewitching good looks'…"

Jessie laughed again. In hindsight, that had been rather sweet. "Just relax and watch the game, Buzz," she said. "We're all together now, so let's just forget about Demo Mode and live life!"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The game ended around 2:00 in the morning. The Sunnyside toys were beginning to trickle back across the street, and Bonnie's toys were getting back into their tight-knit family group.

"Hey, Woody," Ken said. "I've been noticing, all night, you kind of looking from one Disney Princess to another… when you're not staring at the one with the googly eyes, Dolly was it?"

Woody shrugged. "It's complicated with Dolly, but… well, the princesses, I've just been hoping lately to meet somebody. I don't know, I've been talking with all of the princesses, but there just doesn't seem to be any spark."

"Well, of course not," Ken said. "You're _looking_ for a spark, hoping for it, you're never gonna find it that way! Look, pal, just hang back and let them come to you, you'll find the right one."

"Ken, that's the worst advice ever," Barbie chided, lovingly. She stepped up to Woody and put her hands on his shoulders. "Don't stop trying, Woody," she said. "And when you find the princess that's right for you, remember, a girl toy needs to know that you _need_ her, that you're nothing without her." She hugged him. "A toy relationship moves fast, because we're not in charge, we don't know where we're going to be taken. So make sure the princess knows that she's the _one_. Okay?"

Woody nodded. "Thanks, Barbie. I'll definitely keep that in mind." He started down the street, back to Bonnie's house.

Barbie waved ecstatically. "Goodbye! Goodbye!"

Cleo began to join the crowd of Bonnie's toys, when she realized something was nudging her leg. It was the Chatter Telephone, ringing frantically.

The Bratz doll picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"_What's your favorite scary movie?_" said the voice in the receiver.

"Why do you ask?"

"_I just want to know who I'm looking at._"

Cleo laughed. "Cute. I need to get home now."

She hung up, and the phone rang again instantly. She picked it up. "Yeah?"

"_DON'T hang up on me! NEVER hang up on me!_"

"All right, all right, chill," she said. "Come on, though, I think this exchange ran its course the first time around. It made me laugh, it's good, but, I mean, what are you gonna do next, blush at me?"

The telephone backed away sheepishly, before turning around and joining the Sunnyside crew. Cleo joined the huge group of toys that were the community of Bonnie's room.


	18. Childhood

**Toy Fic**

This being an Andy-centric chapter, I simply have the need to share this thought… anybody else consider it peculiar that in _Toy Story 3_, Andy knows Jessie and Bullseye by name? Not only at the end, but even in the home videos of his childhood, he has their names written on his door. You remember, I'm sure, that he didn't know their names in _Toy Story 2_, and how could he? I think the only explanation is that he somehow discovered _Woody's Roundup_, which probably means he knew exactly how much three of his toys were worth. And I'm wondering what the process was, after that, of deciding he was going to keep them.

I don't really plan to explore this theme much, but I've been obsessed with it… and, well, if that gave anyone inspiration for a story, go nuts. I'll read it.

**18. Childhood**

Hannah and Andy entered the downtown courtyard, the California sun beating down on them, their classwork finished, and newly acquired theme-park passes sticking out of their pockets.

"Thanks for inviting me, Hannah," Andy said. "This is going to be great!"

"Well, we're friends now, aren't we?" Hannah said.

"You bailed me out in that class enough times that I feel obligated to follow you around, if nothing else," Andy said.

"And I'm glad to have you. You're definitely my go-to guy for plain, childish fun."

Andy smiled. "Well, that's good… whoa, is that Yvonne?"

"Not everything is Yvonne."

"No, that's her," Andy insisted.

He approached the sitting figure. That was Yvonne, but she had foregone her goth makeup—she merely had an excessive amount of eyeliner and unpainted talons.

"Yvonne?" Andy said.

She nodded. "Hey."

"What's…" Andy stammered. "What happened to all of the…?"

"Hey, you know how long it takes to get into full goth attire?" Yvonne gestured to her own face. "I spent all morning on just _this_, and I'm just hanging out downtown."

"Davis, get your butt over here," Hannah called. "We want to get in early."

Andy followed Hannah, but continued turning back to Yvonne as many times as he could.

"Andy, you're a doof," Hannah said.

"A what?" he said absently.

"You keep straining your neck like that, it's gonna break. Come on."

Andy turned back to Hannah. "You know, I bet Yvonne is even better-looking with no makeup at all."

"I'll take that bet. Not often I meet a guy who can be that wrong."

"Oh, come on, Hannah," Andy chided. "I mean, look at you. All these girls downtown, wearing makeup, and you're prettier than any of them, with your real face and all…"

Hannah stopped and turned to him. "You think I'm pretty?" she said quietly.

Andy shrugged. "Well, yeah. Doesn't everyone?"

"Huh… well, that's nice of you. Follow-up: you think I'm not wearing makeup?"

Andy blinked. "You mean you are? I don't… no, you can't be…"

"Again: you're a doof. Look, buddy, if you're so into Yvonne, I've got _four_ passes. Let's take her along."

"Um… um… you mean…"

"I mean speak to her," Hannah said. "In coherent sentences. Come on, Davis, I've been hearing you babble about her all semester, and it's time for some dramatic payoff. YO, YVONNE!"

Yvonne looked up at the sound of her name, as Hannah marched back to her with Andy in tow.

"Hi," Hannah said. "Me and this idiot wanted to ask you something." She jabbed her thumb at Andy. Yvonne looked at him expectantly.

"Uh…" Andy muttered. "We're going to the theme park. You wanna come?"

Yvonne chuckled. "No."

"No?" Andy repeated. "But… but… why not?"

"Because I'm not a child," Yvonne said.

Hannah, ever the image of being laid-back, suddenly bristled. "Oh, the rebellious college freshie isn't a _child_. Let me explain something to you—"

"Take it easy," Yvonne said. "I'm only saying, I came here to leave my childhood behind."

"Oh, that's a load of—"

Andy stopped Hannah with an outstretched hand. "No, I get it," he said. "I left my childhood behind too… it was freakin' hard."

Hannah turned to him in surprise. She'd never heard him sound so serene. Yvonne seemed intrigued as well, and leaned forward on her hands. "Do tell," she said.

Andy shrugged. "I had these toys, see?" he said. "Some of them, I'd had for ten years, most of them… quite a bit longer than that. The week leading up to my first days on campus, I was wrestling with… what do I do with them? I figured I'd store most of them in the attic for the future, and take one to the dorm for old times' sake… but it didn't happen."

Hannah squinted at him, considering.

"In the end, I decided to give them all to some neighborhood girl… _all_ of them, to a little girl I hadn't seen since she was a baby… all of my toys, gone. Driving away from her like that, I felt like I was abandoning my entire childhood. A guy shouldn't have to do that, it was… it was a moment, or something."

Andy went silent, looking down at his own shoes. Yvonne, a single hand over her mouth, looked up at Hannah. In response, Hannah simply held out her hands, presenting Andy to her.

"Wow," Yvonne said. "That's some story, man. I'm enchanted."

Andy looked up. "You're what?"

Yvonne shrugged, as if she didn't know what she herself had just said. "Well… listen, I'm kind of doing some rituals with the 'legions of evil' this afternoon, but… well, I wish I wasn't doing that, now. I'm going to, because I don't drop my obligations. But tell you what, I'll start obligating myself to _you_ guys. Be a nice change of pace."

Yvonne bared her clawed hands in a gesture of farewell, before gathering up her bags and walking away.

"Who are the legions of evil?" Andy wondered.

"Hard to say," Hannah replied. "Could be the group of her fellow goth freaks that she hangs out with, or might be the senior citizens she volunteers to help."

"And, as always, your snark is appreciated," Andy said. "But… but what does that mean, the dropping obligations and… I don't know, what the hell did she say? What did it mean?"

Hannah smirked. "It means she's hanging out with _us_ now, you doof."


	19. Not Comical

**Toy Fic**

**19. Not Comical**

Trixie tapped away at the computer keyboard. Dolly climbed up to the desk to see her.

"Chatting with Adam, I suppose?" Dolly said.

"Yeah," Trixie said. "There's a new _Incredibles_ this week, and we're discussing its plot points."

Dolly swiped the mouse from her to maximize the discussion. "No you're not," she said. "Why would you lie? You're getting all gushy with him!"

"Yeah, so?" Trixie said.

"So, I thought you were dating Rex. Why is _this_ still going on?"

Trixie laughed. "Look, Rex hasn't really asked me for anything. I like them both. I share special things with them, different things."

Dolly stared. "Right, because with Rex, you share a life here in this house, and with the other guy… help me out here, you just talk about comics."

"Oh, I hardly think so. Talking about comics wouldn't take up much time at all. We discuss comic _books_. Big difference."

Dolly rolled her eyes. "Again, help me out. I've never understood this relationship."

"Well, nobody said you had to understand anything," Trixie said. "And if you think about it, I spend a lot more time with Adam than with Rex."

"But what about the _quality_ of the time?" Dolly said. "All those days with Rex, the two of you just snuggling together, both of your noses in a comic…"

"Book."

"Trixie, you can't possibly think you mean anything to… to _him_." Dolly waved vaguely at the computer screen.

"Of course I do!" Trixie said. "You'll see, there's a playdate at Susie's house coming up, and I'll prove to you that Adam thinks I'm a treasure."

Dolly touched Trixie's frill gently. "Well, of course you're a treasure," she said. "I was just making sure _you_ knew that."

They were silent for a moment.

"Well, I'm gonna go back to real life," Dolly said. "And you can return to your comics."

"Books. Comic books."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jessie came up to Rex, leafing through a book. The book's pages were small, but the binding was two inches thick.

"Hey, Rex," Jessie said.

"Hi," Rex said quietly.

"You know, there's a playdate in the books."

"I know."

"Yeah. A _sleepover_ playdate."

"Uh-huh."

"Trixie spending the night in a house with the as-yet-unseen velociraptor toy. That mean anything to you?"

Rex shrugged. "Eh, maybe."

Jessie snatched the book away from him. "Will you put down the giant comic book and listen to me?"

"It's a graphic novel," Rex corrected.

Jessie ignored that. "Rex, I thought you were worried about Trixie with this guy."

"I am," Rex said. "I'm terrified that I'll say one thing wrong and instantly be trash in her eyes. I completely hate the notion that he'll take her away from me."

"Well, prove that ya care!" Jessie said exuberantly. "Fight for your lady! You can do that, can't you?"

Rex straightened. "Let me show you something," he said. He walked up to the bookshelf and produced another thick book. "This is a very interesting story," he said, opening to specific page and showing Jessie the art. "See, we the readers are this guy with green skin, and this guy with blue hair is kind of a friend. And the blond girl here—this is my favorite part of the story—she's starting to realize that she cares about us both! Now, this is an interactive graphic novel, so at the end of every right-hand page I decide what to do next and flip to the corresponding page. So, if I say that I'm going to fight this guy…" He flipped through the book, finding the page. "…well, that scares her, and she goes running to him. _But_, if I say instead that the choice is hers, then _he_ gets mad and tries to fight, and she decides to stay with us the readers."

Jessie stared. "You're taking dating advice from a comic book?"

"It's a graphic novel. And it's common sense! Why would Trixie want me if I was going to fight Adam like some kind of savage or something?"

Jessie put a hand on Rex's puny shoulder. "Rex, I'm gonna be straight with you," she said. "Adam doesn't _need_ to fight for Trixie. Because _she_ already wants to be with him. So, _you_ are the one who has to take action, in order to show Trixie what a big mistake she's making."

Satisfied that her point had gone across, Jessie sat on the open pages of the book Rex had initially been reading.

Rex fidgeted and looked at Jessie pleadingly. "So… you think that Trixie liking Adam is a big mistake?"

"A huge mistake. As huge as this here comic book."

"It's a gra—"

"It's a comic book, Rex. Don't kid yourself."


	20. Dollhouse

**Toy Fic**

**20. Dollhouse**

Bonnie, true to her word, had made a dollhouse. It was huge, made from many old cardboard boxes, and she'd hand-painted it and given the best detail a four-year-old could give to every single room, to fit its function.

The five princesses were lounging in the sitting area of the dollhouse. Bonnie had received a great deal of Barbie clothes, and so the princesses had removed their gowns in favor of an assortment of modern and highly fashionable outfits.

From the roof of the toy house, Mr. Pricklepants was practicing casting with his little fishing pole.

The three Aliens, favoring the hedgehog's company since their big break as Juliet, came up behind Mr. Pricklepants and saw him throw out the line.

They all gasped. "The claaaaaw!" they said excitedly.

"Sorry, boys," Mr. Pricklepants said apologetically, reeling it in. "No claw to speak of, only a hook."

The Aliens considered that briefly and chorused, "The hooooook!"

Buttercup, sitting on the bed with Hamm, laughed aloud. "Boy, those guys know the secret of life, don't they?"

"Yeah, the secret of life and not much else," Hamm said.

Mr. Potato Head walked over to the princesses. "Hey, little girls," he said. "How's Bonnie treating you?"

"Aw, she's the best," Jasmine said. "We love her."

"Yeah?" Potato Head said. "Hey, girls, let me run this by you… I think that Ariel is the best Disney Princess, and that there's no way to contradict that."

All of the princesses tensed up, and Belle forced out a laugh. "Um, excuse me?" she said, pointing to herself. "1991 Academy Award for Best Picture, right here."

"Nominee," Mulan corrected smugly. "1991 Best Picture _nominee_. Come on, did anyone think you were actually going to win that one?"

Belle scratched her arms. "Perhaps not, but what are you doing here? You're not even a princess of any kind."

Mulan slumped, and Rapunzel held up a peaceful hand.

"Girls, girls," she said. "I don't mean to provoke anybody, but… come on, remember our aisle at the store? There was a whole lot of _me_ in that aisle."

"That's just because you're new," Jasmine said dismissively.

"Oh… really?" Rapunzel said. "Is that why? You're sure it's not because I rock harder than the rest of you?"

"If we'd been made a year ago, _I _would be the boss," Tiana mumbled.

Potato Head had backed away cheerfully. Woody raised an eyebrow at him as the princesses continued to bicker in the background. "Potato Head, why did you provoke them like that?"

"Don't know," Potato Head admitted. "I was thinking about that, and I figured that I just like to offend people."

Dolly approached Woody and Buzz. "Hey, you guys," she said. "I've been thinking about some activities that we might be able to do here in this room…"

Dolly's voice was drowned out by the increasing volume of the Princesses. Totoro looked at Dolly trying to speak, then turned to the princesses and roared powerfully, instantly silencing everybody in the room.

There was a very long silence while all of the toys carefully considered their actions.

"Didn't know Totoro could do that," Dolly finally said. "Thanks, bud."

Totoro gave her his toothy grin, while the princesses looked at him in fear. Eventually, Rapunzel leaned in toward Tiana and whispered, "Randy Newman sucks."

Tiana bristled, then quickly look back at Totoro and decided to relax, not answering the bait.

Buzz turned back to Dolly. "Anyway, what were you saying?"

"Hmm? Oh!" Dolly said, remembering. "Well, I've just been thinking… and you guys, Woody and Buzz, you can help me out with this."

"What is it?" Woody asked.

Dolly inhaled and began. "Well, there are a lot of us in this room now, and we're kind of starting to break off into cliques. I've been thinking about introducing a seminar, one to teach everyone to, um… to function as a single unit, since we're all Bonnie's toys, but at the same time, just being nice to each other. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Woody smiled and nodded. "Yeah, camaraderie in the room. It's a good idea."

Dolly beamed. "Buzz?"

"Oh, Woody's right," Buzz said. "It's a great idea."

Dolly turned once again to Woody. "Hear that? Buzz says my idea is _great_."

Woody shrugged. "I wouldn't say great. But it beats the snot out of ghosts throwing pies."

Dolly stared at him mockingly. "Oh, now you're making fun of my playtime? You're about to cross some lines, cowboy."

"A line? Oh, who's gonna stop me?"

"She's right, Woody," Buzz said. "That was a low blow."

"I'll fight you both," Woody countered, holding up two fists.

Jessie ran across the room. "Bonnie's back from daycare, everyone!"

"Places, quick!" Woody commanded.

When Bonnie came into the room, she immediately went for Woody and Dolly, hugging them tightly. The two of them found it safe to turn to each other and smile, even briefly managing to squeeze each other's hands.


	21. Road Travellers

**Toy Fic**

This is a Bo chapter, so prepare for length. Not that much, I guess, but enough.

And JuliaPhobia, I still want to know what you meant when you said "Bo returns", 'cause I absolutely scoured chapter 20 for typos and… there just isn't anything there that would make somebody think that. I'd just like to know where you got the impression. Probably not the most polite shout-out I've given, but it's driving me crazy wondering what you meant! Sorry.

And in general, I'm really upset by how few reviews I get. It's plagued me for my entire FanFiction career and is starting to put me into a depression.

**21. Road Travellers**

Almost the very moment that night fell, a huge velvet mountain lion emerged from the bushes and began nudging a skateboard down the sidewalk.

"This is taking a while," Ard commented.

"No worries," Hippocampus replied. He grinned. "If you're bored, let's talk about Edward and how nobody likes him."

Edward smirked. "Oh, there's about a _generation_ who would be willing to contradict you on that."

"Let them," Hippocampus said.

"No, now listen. 'A full-blown pop-culture phenomenon'. _Entertainment Weekly _said that. It's on the _Twilight_ DVD case. You can take that to the bank."

"I didn't say you weren't a phenomenon. A clean-shaven guy in a gray suit wearing too much lipstick, that spells pop-culture phenomenon, but Pee-wee Herman kind of beat you to it."

Edward chuckled. "See, I knew you were going to say that, but I let you finish anyway, because that's how nice I am."

"Look, Eddie dearest," Ard said, "fact is, everyone with a brain in their head knows what an unappealing character you are."

Edward ignored them, edging his way to the front of the skateboard, where Bo was sitting, her gaze locked firmly forward.

"I wish they wouldn't do that," he admitted to Bo. "Mocking me, as if I _wrote_ the books. I'm just the merchandise."

"And you should be proud of that," Bo said. "Don't let them bring you down. I'm a fan."

As they reached an intersection, Holiday Barbie held up a hand to pause Bob Buttons. "We're at another corner," she said. "19th street. Um… are we going the right way? Where were we before?"

"Uh…" Hippocampus muttered. "Well, either 18th or 20th. Which one?"

There was silence. No one knew.

"We have to get to 2nd street," Bo said anxiously. "Doesn't anyone have a clue where we were before?"

"Let's just go another block," Edward suggested. "Let's not forget that we're at 19th street this time, and if we're going the wrong way, we turn around."

"I don't want to go a whole 'nother block," Ard objected. "I mean, come on, that'll take forever! Like poor old Bob Buttons isn't tired enough already."

Bob Buttons growled sadly.

"So which way do we go, huh?" Hippocampus demanded. "If we go one up and we're at 20th, we have to turn around and… and…"

Barbie tried to scribble on her paper with a red crayon, then paused and stomped on it. "Math is tough!" she whined.

Hippocampus sighed, cradling his face in his coiled tail. "Oh, boy. Look, let's just find some toy and ask which way we go. Come here, Bob Buttons."

Hippocampus crawled onto the nearest lawn, and Bob Buttons boosted him up to the darkened window of that house. As luck would have it, the inside sill was occupied by two limp figures, a Frozone action figure and a plush Kool-Aid Man.

"Yo," Hippocampus said, tapping the window. "Mind if we ask you guys something?"

The Frozone figure looked around to make sure he was unobserved, and with the Kool-Aid Man's help, they heaved open the window.

"How can we help you, man?" Frozone asked.

"We're a bit lost," Hippocampus said. "You guys know which way to 2nd street?"

They thought for a moment. The Kool-Aid Man snapped his fingers and said "Oh yeah!"

"That's right, it's _that_ way," Frozone said, pointing the direction they had been going. "Took a while to figure it out, 'cause we're always in a bag."

"Oh yeah," the Kool-Aid Man said.

"But yeah, the lower numbers are definitely this way," Frozone said confidently.

"Thanks, guys," Hippocampus said. He hopped down to the ground, and he and Bob Buttons returned to the group at the skateboard.

"Where are you guys going?" Frozone called out.

Barbie pointed to Bo. "Finding her lost love," she said.

"Oh yeah?" the Kool-Aid Man said.

"Well, that's nice," Frozone said. "Glad we could help."

"Oh yeah!" The Kool-Aid Man reached out to pat Frozone's back.

"Don't touch me, you drink," Frozone said, backing away.

"Oh yeah."

"Okay, dude, you say that one more time, I'll kick you in the tights and you will go down, you're very top-heavy."

"Oh yeah?"

"That's it…"

The group of Sid's toys heard a scuffle in the house behind them. They ignored it.

"19th street," Hippocampus muttered. "That's a long way to go for some guy."

"Toys have gone further for Woody," Bo said quietly.

"Hmph. What's it about this guy, his abs? Are they made of limestone or something?"

"Actually, his abs are cotton," Bo admitted.

"Oh. Well, how worth it can this be, then?" Hippocampus joked. "Maybe we should go back to Sid's before we get all broken and dirty…"

He'd said it in fun, but Bo considered his words very seriously.

"It _is_ a long way," she said. "And what if he's not there anymore? It'll hit me pretty hard if we've walked three miles for nothing…"

"Bo," Ard began.

"You guys go back to Sid," Bo said, stepping off the skateboard. "I'll go on by myself. Turn them around, Bob Buttons."

"No!" Barbie said, jumping down to take Bo's hand. "Please," she said. "Get back on the skateboard. Stay with us."

Barbie escorted Bo back to the group. Bob Buttons looked at them expectantly.

"To Andy's," Barbie said. "Let's go."


	22. Practical Fashion

**Toy Fic**

**22. Practical Fashion**

Mr. Pricklepants marched purposefully to the center of the room. "Attention everyone," he said. "On this coming eve, we shall begin preparations for our next great project, wherein I shall take on the most difficult role of my entire career—Othello!"

There was scattered applause, then Mr. Cold bobbed out of the crowd.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he rumbled. "Who says you get to be Othello? _I'm_ Othello."

"I'm always the lead," Mr. Pricklepants said simply. "I don't mind your ambitions… you can take a large role if you pass the audition."

"No. I'm Othello."

"But, look, there are many—"

"Othello Othello Othello Othello…"

"You can shove a sock in it!" Mr. Pricklepants shouted. "I have been waiting to play this role for my entire life!"

One by one, every toy in the room turned their head, ignoring what was quickly becoming a physical confrontation between the two round and fuzzy beings.

Woody crawled onto the roof of the dollhouse, carrying Bonnie's little toy ukulele. Leaning against the cardboard chimney, Woody began playing a little tune.

"Hey, cowboy," said a voice.

Woody turned his head. Cleo was sitting on a high shelf. Woody had never really bothered to take a good look at her, but she was a pale-skinned, green-eyed blond, who had been unwrapped in a checkered hat and usually wore it with every outfit put on her, but had foregone it for the moment.

"Hi," Woody said. "It's Cleo, right?"

"Yeah," she said. She held up her arm, revealing that her white button-down shirt had a ripped seam in the sleeve. "Where does a girl go to get sewn up around here?"

"Oh," Woody said. "Well, Mr. Pricklepants is usually the one in charge of repairs, but, um…" The two of them looked on the ground, where Mr. Pricklepants and Mr. Cold were fiercely wrestling, rolling across the floor. "Well, I'm handy with a needle too," Woody said. "Come with me."

Woody led Cleo to the kitchen. In a lower cabinet, the toys had stashed a number of small-repair items, such as multicolored spools of thread, glue, and a small round mirror on a stand.

"Here we go," Woody said, looking through the thread. "White, right?"

"Yep," Cleo said.

"Okay… I'll try not to poke you."

He started repairing the large rip going down the sleeve. "You know, the princesses like trying on each other's clothes," he said. "Why aren't you with them?"

Cleo smirked. "Barbies and Bratz can't wear each other's clothes, Woody. We're competing brands. Totally different sizes."

"Oh," Woody said sheepishly. "I didn't know that."

"Anyway," Cleo said, "I'm not really into the whole 'fashionista' thing. I prefer something more practical. Running around clothes, playtime clothes. Just a practical shirt, some blue jeans…" Cleo noticed Woody's own clothes. "And boots," she added. "Love a nice pair of boots."

"Oh, yeah," Woody said.

"For running," Cleo added.

"Running," Woody echoed.

"Getting some serious dirt."

"Yeah," Woody said.

"Good stuff," Cleo said. She flexed her fingers. "How's that coming?"

"I'm done," Woody said.

Cleo looked down at her sleeve. "Wow, that's good," she said. "This is my favorite shirt." She straightened the fake buttons on the front of her shirt, then stood up. "Could you Velcro me?"

Woody stepped back in surprise at the sight of her bare back. "Oh… certainly," he said. He fastened the two ends together, his hands shaking.

Cleo stretched. "Let's see how it all works now…" she said to herself. She stepped in front of the mirror, turning around, stretching her arms, running in place.

"Good stitching, Woody," Cleo said. "I like it very much. This is a good outfit, I like Bonnie's tastes… maybe there's something missing, and I think I know what it is."

She stood on a spool of thread, balancing for a moment to lift Woody's hat right off his head. She held it onto her own head, looking in the mirror. "Yeah, that's it," she said. "See you around, big guy."

Cleo hopped out of the cupboard and started back to the room. Woody stammered for a moment, reaching out to her. Stepping out into the kitchen, Woody heard a gruff laugh. He looked up to see Chuckles on his favorite spot in the kitchen windowsill.

"Oh, hey," Woody said. "Did she just…?"

"Steal your hat?" Chuckles said. "Oh yeah."

Woody watched Cleo leaving. "Huh," he said blankly.


	23. Adam Revealed

**Toy Fic**

**23. Adam Revealed**

Bonnie skipped down the street, carrying Trixie in her arms and a backpack over her shoulder. It was time for the long-anticipated playdate with Susie—owner of the elusive velociraptor toy, Adam.

"Susie!" Bonnie said excitedly, flinging the backpack onto a couch. "Look, I brought Trixie again!"

The girls didn't notice the zipper of the backpack being lifted upwards by a tiny green hand. Rex poked his eye out of the gap he'd made, to watch Bonnie presenting Trixie, while Susie held up Adam. Here was the moment of truth… who was this Adam fellow?

Rex was shocked. He'd expected a plastic toy like himself and Trixie… secretly, he'd even prayed that maybe Adam was to scale with him, a diminutive velociraptor to his fearsome tyrant lizard king…

In fact, no. Adam was an advanced animatronic; steel and glass and chrome, with a pair of glowing blue eyes and functional joints in his arms and legs. He was sleek and hunched, and much larger than Rex.

"Susie, I brought some of my new toys!" Bonnie said happily. "And I'll show them to you… after lunch!"

Bonnie and Susie set their dinosaurs on the ground and ran off to the kitchen. Rex slouched, somewhat relieved.

Trixie walked up to Adam, who righted himself but otherwise remained motionless.

"Hi, Adam," Trixie said. "I've missed you."

"_Trrrrix… eeeee,_" came the reply. It sounded like a jumble of mechanical noises that only happened to sound like Trixie's name… or perhaps Rex was biased.

Rex felt a pressure on the top of his head, remembering that Mr. Cold was in the backpack with him.

"That the guy who's making the moves on your girl?" the microbe said.

"Apparently," Rex said, still confused.

"We gonna rough him up, or what?"

"Rough him… what?"

"Ah yeah, I thought so," Mr. Cold said, flexing his whole body. "That dude is about to catch a cold."

"No, no, no!" Rex said, holding him back. "I don't want to fight him, just… confront him, maybe. I think."

"Guys, come on out here, it's safe," Trixie called. "Adam, these are some of my new friends."

Rex left the backpack and slowly approached Adam.

"_Rex_," Adam said mechanically.

"Yes," Rex said, surprised. "Trixie's mentioned me?"

"_Yyyyyesssss_."

Rex did a purely internal happy-dance. Trixie thought he was worth mentioning! "I've heard about you too," Rex said. "Well, she never mentioned that you're a _robot_ dinosaur."

Trixie laughed. "Well, of course he is, silly. He's the velociraptor from the 'Animals and Dinosaurs of Animatronic Magic' series. 'A-D-A-M'. He's an ADAM, get it?"

Rex blinked, then turned to ADAM for confirmation. The robot merely nodded.

"Toy of few words," Mr. Cold noticed. "I like that."

Rex shot Mr. Cold a look. A pitiful look, but it was a look, and it was shot. He hoped.

"So… ADAM," Rex began.

He replied with a static-filled "shush".

"Wha—?" Rex said, but realized that Susie and Bonnie were returning from lunch. He and Mr. Cold hustled to Bonnie's backpack, getting there just in time to be removed by Bonnie.

"This is Mr. Cold," Bonnie said. "He causes lots of trouble! And this is Rex, he's Trixie's boyfriend."

"Cool," Susie said. "Here, let's take Trixie back up to my room."

"What about the rest?"

"We'll leave them here with ADAM so they can talk about guy stuff that we wouldn't understand."

Susie ran up the stairs, and Bonnie followed her, confused. "What's guy stuff?" she called.

When they were alone, Rex turned his head to find ADAM fully in his face, and he leapt and yelped in surprise.

"_Boy_… _frrrriend?_" ADAM buzzed curiously.

Rex tried to keep his composure. This was what he had been waiting for, after all. He straightened his diaphragm and spoke as clearly as he could manage.

"That's right," Rex said. "Trixie and I were meant to be together."

ADAM's blue eyes flickered in a way that, irrationally, caused Rex's hackles to rise.

"We _are_!" Rex snapped. "Okay? So, l-listen, fella, w-we don't want you around our Internet anymore. Okay? You, um, you, um, you, um, stay away from Trixie, okay? Um… okay?"

_Well, that could have gone better,_ Rex thought, as ADAM looked him over thoughtfully.

"_Rrresssss-pect… Trixieeeeee_," the velociraptor finally said.

"I _do_ respect Trixie!" Rex said. "I mean, I respect her decisions… but more than that, I respect her enough to know that you're bad for her and I have to do something about it!"

Rex would swear that the expressionless contraption was smirking at him.

"Okay?" Rex said. "So… leave her alone. Stop pretending you actually care."

ADAM leaned in even closer to Rex's face. "_Nevvvvver_," he said softly.

Rex stepped back nervously.

"_Trixieeee, for meeee_," ADAM pronounced. He then stalked away on his powerful legs.

Rex made a teeny, tiny fist.

"We gonna kick his butt now?" Mr. Cold asked.

"No," Rex said. "We've done all we can. I just… now I have to wait for a chance to speak to Trixie. It is what it is, and… well, we'll always have Bonnie's room."


	24. Meet

**Toy Fic**

Hey, folks! You're good to me, so here's another couple of featurettes.

First, the Mr. Cold featurette. I knew from the beginning that a Giant Microbe would be put into the mix. The Common Cold is by far the cutest, and my sister calls ours "Mr. Cold", so I decided that Bonnie would give him that moniker as well. When working out his personality, I was reminded of a character Michael Clarke Duncan played in the second-season premiere of _Chuck_, whose name was "Mr. Colt". I invariably began associating the two, and so Mr. Cold immediately adopted an imposing, deadly persona. So that's who Mr. Cold is: a tiny fuzzy sphere who's purely convinced that he's Michael Clarke Duncan. Have you noticed?

And now, here's some background on ADAM. Despite the suspense, his identity was _not_ planned from the beginning. I thought about different archetypes for him, and settled on him being a large, scary robot. After deciding that, it was easy to determine his manner of speaking: **evil WALL-E**. It's that simple. Muahahaha. Then, of course, I'd already established his name was 'Adam', and I had to figure out a way for it to make sense on a robo-raptor, and thus had to figure out what ADAM stands for. Took forever! Blech.

Anyway, let's go on.

**24. Meet**

"Hannah! Get your booty over here!"

Hannah rubbed her eyes sleepily, departing from one of her early-morning classes, and looked up to see Yvonne beckoning her wildly from the café. Hannah filled up a hot coffee and stumbled back to Yvonne.

"What's going on, dude?" Hannah muttered.

"Next week: road trip. You in?"

Hannah blinked. "Well, that's the most indistinct six words I've ever heard. May I say 'Huh'?"

"To the 'burbs," Yvonne said enthusiastically. "My family, Andy's family—we can throw in yours, too! Make an evening of it. Come out with us!"

"Well, okay," Hannah said.

"Excellent!" Yvonne whipped out a MapQuest printout. "I've got it all planned out. Starts out, dinner with my parents, then to your place."

Hannah blinked once again. "Okay, first question: You planned this out already, and second: how did you get my family's address?"

Yvonne shrugged. "Well, I knew you wouldn't refuse, and… I've got methods. Evil methods. Anyway, our next stop is to see that little kid Bonnie, 'cause Andy wants me to meet his old toys."

"'Meet' his toys?"

"His word. Cute, huh?"

"I suppose," Hannah said. "Guy's a weirdo. Anyway, then what?"

"Then we go to see Andy's mom, and then we go back to campus, hang out a bit, and then I'm gonna ask Andy to marry me."

A spray of hot coffee burst from Hannah's mouth, covering the wall in front of her. "WHAT?" she demanded.

"_Nice_ spit-take," Yvonne said, genuinely impressed. "Good distance, well-timed."

"Um… um… thank you. I reiterate: WHAT?"

Yvonne laughed. "Come on, Hannah, lighten up. You've seen the spark."

"Ask him to marry you?" Hannah said slowly. "So, what, you get married, _then_ go on a first date?"

"I'm impulsive."

"No scat."

Yvonne flipped her hair. "Hannah, the guy is phenomenal. He's the kind of person who wants nothing but to improve himself for other people. I want him for my whole life."

"But… _marriage_?" Hannah enunciated. "Look, he's wanted to date you for a while, but he's not gonna go through with this."

"Yeah, well, that's your opinion," Yvonne said cheerfully. "You know, Andy _is_ kind of hot, have you noticed?"

"Yeah, he's as hunky as Taylor Lautner… in 2005, as Sharkboy."

"Ooh, burn on vintage Taylor Lautner," Yvonne said, upbeat. "So, are you ready for this trip?"

"…eh. I dunno."


	25. Karaoke Party

**Toy Fic**

**25. Karaoke Party**

The Andersons' car was packed with hiking and camping gear when it pulled out of the driveway. Unsurprisingly, right after the car pulled away, several toys peered out from behind the couch.

"Are they all gone?" Trixie asked. "YES! It's time! Get it!"

The toys gathered together the TV remotes. Trixie clicked through all of the settings until the connection was properly established—the karaoke machine.

"YES!" Trixie said. "Somebody dim the lights! Parteeeee! And I've got dibs on the first song."

Trixie immediately placed a microphone in front of herself on the coffee table, and punched in her song.

"_Why can't the world… be more like in my dreams?" _she sang sweetly. "_It would be full… of all my favorite things!"_

With the lights dimmed, and the sound system rocking the entire place, toys began to dance everywhere.

"Honey, let's go next!" Mrs. Potato Head said eagerly. "Oh, I've always loved your renditions of those intense heavy metal love ballads."

"Dibs," Jessie said hastily. "Buzz, let's do something from _Grease_."

"Um… _Grease_?" Buzz said blankly.

"Yeah, _Grease_. Loved that movie when it came out. Reminded me of Emily, in a good way. It was about… you know, her time. I liked watchin' her back then, and…" Jessie stepped back, smiling sadly. "Yeah, _Grease_. Let's do it."

As Trixie finished her song, Jessie got on the table and entered in "Summer Nights". "Buzz, let's do this," she said.

"Um… if, we, um… okay," Buzz said.

He picked up the second microphone and cleared his throat as the music began. "Um, _summer lovin', had me a blast._"

"_Summer lovin', happened so fast,_" Jessie sang powerfully.

"_I met a girl crazy for me_…" Buzz clearly had no confidence about his singing, but it was adequate, and Jessie stared at him in admiration.

"_Met a boy cute as can be_," she responded.

As they began the duet, Woody leaned back and thought about his own musical selection, also watching the other toys in the room, the happy rhythm they'd settled into.

"Oh, hey, Belle," he said. The brunette had plopped herself onto the floor right next to Woody.

"Hi," Belle said cheerfully. She started laughing.

"What is it?" Woody said with a confused smile.

Belle waved her hand. "Oh, nothing. It's just… that Mr. Cold is such a tease!" She skipped off, still laughing.

Woody didn't know what to make of that, so he shimmied along the couch over to Rapunzel and Tiana. "Hello, princesses," he said. "Are you all going to sing?"

"Most of us," Tiana said. "Mulan and Jasmine are over there, they'll be here, and maybe Belle can…" Tiana looked over Woody's shoulder and flinched. "Oh. Never mind."

Woody turned, and only managed to catch a glimpse of Belle running away holding Mr. Cold tightly.

"Well, she's off snogging," Rapunzel said. "We need a fifth girl in our line! How do we do this?"

"_W-we made out under the dock,_" Buzz sang unsteadily.

"_We stayed out 'til ten o'clock,_" Jessie twirled and danced exuberantly to the music.

"And where _did_ Jas and Mulan go?" Tiana added. "Oh, good, they're with Dolly."

A few feet away, Jasmine was leaning towards Dolly interestedly, asking, "So, you just tape up the spray nozzle?"

"Yeah," Dolly said, "and the next person to turn it on gets—oh, hey there," she said hastily. "What's going on, Woody?"

Woody smiled at her. "The princesses want you to sing with them. Could you?"

"Oh, sing with us!" Jasmine said happily.

"Eh, I don't really… sing…"

"Oh, come on, Doll," Woody said with a smirk. "It'll be adorable."

"That settles it," Mulan said. "Come on."

Jasmine and Mulan tugged Dolly up to the table as Buzz was stammering the last bars of "Summer Nights". When it ended, Jessie kissed him firmly on the cheek, to applause all around the room.

Dolly lined up with the four princesses and looked uncertainly at the screen. "Um, 'Getting Lucky', 1987, originally performed by the Chipettes… who in Milton Bradley are the Chipettes?" When images from the music video appeared on the screen, Dolly muttered, "Oh… um, I see. Huh."

And, with a fair five-part harmony, Dolly and the princesses began: "_Honey, you're a sweet thing… and you look so fine… all I ever wanted, is to make you mine…_"

Woody found himself dancing to the beat, and surprisingly, felt someone brush against him. It was Cleo.

"Hey," she said.

"Um, hi."

"Share a dance with me, pardner?" she joked in a heavy drawl.

"Well, sure Cleo," Woody said, pleased. "It'd be a real privilege."

Cleo put her hands on his shoulders and started shaking her whole body. "So, Woody, what's on your mind?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Cleo said. "Everybody knows you're looking for a girlfriend in this room, right?"

"Um… yeah," Woody admitted.

Cleo smirked. "Aren't I in the running?"

"Oh," Woody said. "Well, I'd never considered that, actually."

"Why?" she said with a smile. "'Cause I'm a Bratz doll? Not some innocent princess that everybody treasures?"

"Er…"

"Thought so," Cleo said, but she didn't have a trace of bitterness, she was still smiling mischievously. "You ought to open your mind a bit."

"_Give me… a clue… tell me what I need to do, to get lucky with you!_"

Cleo favored Woody with a dance that was… well, extremely favorable to him. He hadn't known there was such a thing as "dirty square dancing", but Cleo did it masterfully.

"Wow," he said.

"I'm a simple doll," Cleo said. "I've got feelings like any other doll, just remember that."

The song was over, and that was it. Woody didn't care that he wasn't so sure of this action; he didn't care that everybody was watching, it didn't even bother him that the tempo of the song that had just finished didn't even fit the mood. He pulled Cleo close to him and kissed her on her full lips.

Cleo kissed him back, and the two of them held it there for a moment. The room went quiet, only scattered mumbling surrounding them.

"Oh, that is disgusting," Hamm finally said. "Whose idea was it to bring Bratz dolls into this room…?"

Woody looked at him fearfully.

"Oh, right, mine," Hamm said. "Piggy bank for the win!"

Somebody whooped, and the entire crowd cheered. Woody and Cleo kissed again.

"Wanna sing, baby?" Cleo asked.

"Sure," Woody said, looking up. On the table, the princesses were positively jumping with excitement, but he'd intended to get a good look at Dolly. She stood there silently, smiling at him gently. He smiled back.

"Yeah," he said, taking Cleo's arm. "Let's you and me sing a little song."


	26. Emergency

**Toy Fic**

**26. Emergency**

Bo and her friends were well on their way, but trouble was brewing. A dog barked at them as they passed, and tried frantically to jump over its fence.

"Just ignore it," Edward said quietly.

But to their horror, the barking dog wouldn't give up after they passed, and finally managed to hurdle over its fence.

Bob Buttons pushed the skateboard as fast as he could, but the dog was faster than the toy. Desperately, he placed a paw on Sid's skateboard and gave a mighty shove, pushing it down the sidewalk without him.

"Bob, no!" Bo called. She stood up just as the skateboard toppled over. The five toys tumbled along the sidewalk, and Bo heard the sound of breaking porcelain as she lay flat on her back.

"What the…" Bo muttered. "AAAH!"

Looking down at herself, Bo realized that one of her frilly white pant legs was empty, and her foot lay a few inches away, broken off at the shin.

"NO!" Hippocampus yelled. "Your foot!"

But Bo hardly cared. "Look," she said, pointing. "It's Andy's house."

Edward supported Bo with his shoulders. "Grab that foot, quick!" he said.

The dog had chased Bob Buttons up a tree, and had him cornered. The mountain lion watched with concern as the others ran to the front door. Ard took a mighty leap up to the doorknob and tried to give it a turn.

"Locked," Ard muttered. "Hold on."

He poked a wingtip into the keyhole, wiggling it as fast as he could. "You pick up a few tricks in pen-and-paper gaming," Ard explained. "I can pick the lock—there we go."

The door opened, and the others rushed Bo into the house.

"Here, Bob Buttons!" Ard yelled.

Bob Buttons vaulted out of the tree and made straight for the door. The toys managed to close it and lock it again before the dog got there.

"We're here," Bo whispered. "Oh my God, we're here…"

Edward sat her down on the floor, looking at her broken leg. "Come on," he said. "We have to get her foot back on."

Hippocampus started pulling out kitchen drawers and searching them. "I got it, I got it!" he said. "Hot-glue gun, locked and loaded!"

"Perfect, plug it in!" Edward said calmly. "Let it heat up… stay relaxed, Bo."

"Okay," she said.

Edward held the glue gun in both hands and carefully started squeezing, lining the edges of Bo's leg.

"Foot," Edward said quickly. "Before the glue sets." Holiday Barbie handed it to him, and he pressed it against the glued stump.

"Just have to hold on," Edward said. "Let it cool… don't move…"

"I'm fine," Bo muttered.

"Look at me," Edward said suddenly.

Bo looked into his eyes.

"You're going to be okay," Edward told her.

"Yeah, I… I know," Bo whispered.

They kept their gaze locked on, until Edward let go of her leg. "It's done," he said. "Don't stand on it for a while… and I'm not sure if you'll ever walk properly again."

"I've got a cane," Bo said simply. She got to her feet, and looked around the living room. "Well, here we are. I… oh, no…"

On the baker's rack on the edge of the dining room, Bo noticed a headstone, decorated with paw prints and a single word, BUSTER.

"Buster is dead?" she breathed. "Oh, everyone must have been so sad… poor doggy…"

She sank into her ever-growing grief for a moment, before saying, "Come on, everyone. Let's get to Andy's room."

Bob Buttons helped her up the stairs, and she made her way to Andy's room. What she saw was a shock to her.

"Feminine sort of kid, isn't he?" Hippocampus said dryly.

"This is Molly's room now?" Bo demanded. "Why would that be?" She stepped in. "Is anyone in here?" she called tentatively. "…The room is devoid of toys. What's going on here?"

Bo spotted a few pictures on top of the dresser and pulled the drawers out slightly, one at a time, to climb to the top.

"Molly, is that really you?" Bo said sadly. There was a photograph of Molly exactly as she was: eleven years old, decked out in all the fashions that she found admirable. Bo looked down at her friends. "Did I say anything bad about Molly before?" she asked. "'Cause… 'cause I take it back. I love her so much…" She leaned against the photo frame. "I missed seeing her grow up… I didn't even know…"

Bo noticed something in Molly's top drawer and pulled it out. "What… what… is this a training bra? For the love of…"

Bo nearly collapsed, but Barbie had made it to the top of her dresser and held her. "Bo, it's okay," she said. "You didn't miss anything, she's not grown up, she's just… in training for it."

Bo choked out a laugh and tossed the bra back into Molly's top drawer. She noticed the other framed picture then—Molly, Mom, and Andy in his graduation cap.

"Andy," Bo said. "Taller than his Mom, and graduating from high school…" She sighed, taking in the surroundings of Molly's new room. "He must have moved out," she said sadly. "Andy's gone… but then, what did he do with…?"

Bo climbed down to the floor and walked to the other room, where Molly's room used to be.

"An office?" she said. A desk, a chair, a computer, largely featureless. Bo chuckled. "Aw, their Mom always wanted to be a journalist," she said. "Empty room. It's a cinch there's no hidden clues in here…" She walked back into the hallway. "What am I gonna do, you guys? I'm never going to find Woody now…"

"Attic door," Edward said.

Bo looked at him. "What?"

"Bob Buttons, get the attic door," Edward said.

Bob Buttons took a leap to the cord and bit down, dangling there. The other four jumped onto his legs, and their added weight opened the door, bringing down the ladder.

"We'll live up in the attic," Edward said. "We'll move around in the ventilation system and listen in on Molly and her mom, until we can discover where Andy's toys are now."

Bo watched as her five new friends, five great friends, climbed the ladder to the attic, and stood there above her, waiting.

"Living, alone, with all of you?" Bo said. "I… I don't know if I could stand that, you guys."

Edward smiled, knowing what she meant, but Hippocampus seemed struck. "Why not?" he said.

Bo grinned. "Because you're a bunch of freakin' saints, that's why."

She got onto the bottom step of the ladder. With a creak, the door began to close and the ladder pulled her up.


	27. Road Trip

**Toy Fic**

**Hey! Well, first off… everybody reading this who isn't JuliaPhobia or LilStarWriter, go back one and review Chapter 26. 'Cause you didn't before. Longest interval I've ever taken and smallest review count—no good. This means you.**

**27. Road Trip**

Andy drove, Yvonne to his side and Hannah leaning forward from the backseat.

"This should be fun," Hannah said. Her eyes kept darting nervously to Yvonne. "So, Andy. How've you been?"

Andy blinked. "We hang out every day. What do you mean, how've I been?"

"I dunno," Hannah said.

"What's your family like, Hannah?" Yvonne asked.

"Oh, just fine," Hannah said. "My brother's a toy-loving weirdo like Davis here, and my parents…" She hesitated. "Ah, just forget about 'em. I'm more interested in _you_, Yvonne."

"What about me?" Yvonne taunted. She tapped her pocket, causing Hannah to flinch. Did she have a ring in there?

"Well, your family," Hannah said. "If we're having dinner with them, I'd like to know something about them. What do they usually make for dinner? Little kids?"

"No," Yvonne said calmly.

"Eye of newt and toe of frog…"

"Shut it, Hannah," Yvonne said, smirking. "They're not witches."

"That's just you, huh?" Andy offered.

Hannah laughed. "Good one, Andy. But if this isn't super-fun, huh guys? Big old road trip for the families Phillips, Davis, and… sorry, Yvonne, don't think I've ever caught your last name."

Yvonne sighed. "I'm gonna regret telling you this. It's Gomez."

"Oh, you're gonna regret that _forever_," Hannah said eagerly.

"What?" Andy said confused. "So she's Spanish."

"Gomez, as in Gomez Addams," Hannah said eagerly. "We're gonna dine with the Addams Family. I always knew it! You were born into gothiness."

"No, I was not," Yvonne said.

"Who are the Addams Family?" Andy wondered.

The two girls stared at him.

"What, you never watched the classic 1960s sitcom, _The Addams Family_?" Yvonne said with disbelief.

"Sixties? No," Andy said.

"What's wrong with you?" Yvonne wondered.

"Well, I've got a little syndrome of 'born in 1993'."

"Hey, so was I, but I'm cultured," Hannah said.

"Anyway, eyes on the road, Andy," Yvonne said cheerfully. "We're coming up on my house now. My mom is baking a vulture."

"Cute," Hannah said.


	28. Sid's House

**Toy Fic**

**28. Sid's House**

"Well, your parents were utterly creepy," Hannah offered.

"Maybe they were just trying not to subvert your expectations," Yvonne offered.

"Your dad smiles just like John Astin," Hannah continued. "Here, let me just try and stick a light bulb in your mouth…"

"Don't make me throw you out of this car, Hannah Phillips, 'cause I'll do it," Yvonne cautioned.

"Anyway, here's my block," Hannah said. "Pull in."

"Okay," Yvonne said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Heya, Sid," Hannah said, clapping her shades-wearing brother on the shoulder.

"Hey, peeper," Sid replied. "MA! HANNAH'S HERE! And is this your entourage?"

"Yep," Hannah said. "Sid, this is Yvonne and Andy. Guys, my brother Sid."

"Hey," Andy said. "So, your mom is back there? Let me go talk to her…"

"Me too," Yvonne said. "I'd like to know who raised ya, Hard-Worker." She ruffled Hannah's hair and walked with Andy into the living room.

"Yeah, Mom's great," Sid said. "I went first, so she didn't make any mistakes with Hannah."

"Totally," Hannah agreed.

"So, Hannah," Sid said when they were alone. "How's school?"

"It's great," Hannah said. "You ought to go."

Sid laughed. "I'm not ready for that kind of accomplishment, kiddo. That's your area."

"Sure," Hannah said. "So, uh, are you still on that toy kick?"

"Oh, I'm never gonna be over the 'toy kick', Hannah," Sid said. "I will always love toys. The museum, it's expanding."

"I'll have to take a look at it, then," Hannah said. "You know, it's fine, there's nothing wrong with it. At least you don't think they come to life anymore."

The siblings were silent for a long period of time. "You _don't_ think toys come to life, right?" Hannah finally said.

"No, of course not," Sid said. He pressed his hand against the pocket where he kept the note his toys had written to him. "So, um… what else is up with you?"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

After Hannah and her friends had left, Sid returned to the toy museum, smoothing over the letter his toys had written.

"Do I really still believe that?" he said. "_One_ sign. One return from my lifelong obsession." He looked around at the toys along the walls. "Why do I do this?" he asked. "Why do I speak to you, knowing you'll never in a million years answer?"

He sighed. "What is this code that you toys follow? I've done everything in my power to love you… but you won't stop going by the book, will you? This is really low of you, toys. All my years of selfless collecting for… for…"

Sid clutched Bo's letter to his chest. "Is this what I have to show for following my heart all these years? IS MY ENTIRE LIFE A SHAM?" he roared, dropping to his knees. He sobbed desperately into his hands, his fingerprints smudging his sunglasses.

He paused suddenly. Had he heard a creak…?

Yes, he had. The magnetic lock on one of his glass cabinets had popped and swung outwards. And walking toward him was a one-inch-tall orange tabby cat.

"No," she said. "Your toys are very grateful for the chances you've given, the love you've shown. So, no, your life isn't a sham. You, Sid Phillips, are the rescuer of lost toys. And I think you earned the recognition long ago. But I'm here to say now's the time. Isn't that right, everyone?"

Tiny looked expectantly at the surrounding toys, then back to Sid. He had spent the entire speech able to do nothing but stare. But as cabinets opened all around him, toys applauding from every direction and coming to greet him, Sid screamed and ran from the room, slamming the door behind him.

"He'll be back," Tiny said to everybody. "We'll be fine."

The doorknob turned, and Sid peeked back in. His still-living toys looked up at him, smiling kindly.

"You…" he muttered. "You're not going to hide… anymore…?"

"We won't hide," Tiny promised. "Not from you, anyway."

Sid stammered for a moment, then passed out right there in the doorway.

Tiny scampered over to him, inspecting his face. "Aw," she said. "He's smiling."


	29. Bonnie's House

**Toy Fic**

I just had the delight that is watching _Hawaiian Vacation_ as the preceding short to _Cars 2_. I enjoyed it, especially since it reminded me of what my number-one fanfic priority really is!

**29. Bonnie's House**

The car pulled up.

"Um, guys?" Hannah said. "If it's all fine with you, I'd like to stay right here in the car."

"…Okay," Yvonne said hesitantly. "Let's go."

Andy and Yvonne walked up to the house and knocked on the door.

"IT'S ANDY!" came a little girl's voice from within, followed by pounding feet.

Yvonne laughed. "Wow," she said.

"Yeah," Andy said with a smile. "She's cute…"

The door flung open to reveal Bonnie in her tutu, smiling broadly. "AND-EEEEEEEEE!" she said happily, tugging on his hand. "Come see everybody!"

"How are they all doing?" Andy asked.

"Everybody is still okay!" Bonnie assured him. "Come on, I want to show you!" Losing her patience, she let go of Andy's hand and took off to her room.

"'Everybody' being all your toys?" Yvonne guessed.

"Yeah, that's right," Andy said. He chuckled. "Ah, yeah. I guess we're free to come in. Hey, Mrs. Anderson."

The spectacled woman smiled up at him from one of her potted plants. "Hello, Andy," she said. "Bonnie's been asking about you for months, I'm glad you thought of us."

"Well, I _had_ to come over," Andy said. "This is my friend Yvonne."

"Hello," Bonnie's mom replied.

Andy and Yvonne followed Bonnie's continued cries of "Come on, come on, come on!" to her room, where all of the toys were gathered around on the floor in welcome.

"I've got some new ones!" Bonnie said. "Look, I have a Hopticopter, and a Giant Microbe, and lots of princesses…"

Bonnie jabbered on, and Andy listened intently. "Yvonne, look at this," he said. He pulled Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye out of the crowd. "You ever hear of _Woody's Roundup_?"

Yvonne shook her head silently.

"It was a very popular show in the early 50's," said Andy. "And this is the official merchandise. I've had Woody my whole life—" He waved Woody at her. "And Jessie and Bullseye here… I obtained them some time ago, my mom and I don't even remember where. But it didn't take long to figure out that they're all connected, that here I have three of the four official dolls of _Woody's Roundup_."

"So, what happened to the fourth?" Yvonne asked.

"Hmm… I don't know. I've never seen one."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

_somewhere in Pasadena_

A large cardboard box was slammed onto the ground, and the men who had purchased it from the yard sale was heard clomping off.

When the Barbie with the painted face emerged from the box, it was without a smile. The years had made her bitter and cynical.

She scanned the apartment where she had been placed, and the various superhero figurines in the room, startled at the presence of an actual girls' doll in the apartment, shrieked and hid behind the large collections of comic books.

"Oh, it's one of _these_ places," the Barbie muttered. She turned to her longtime companion, his face and beard blackened with eyeshadow, his clothes stained in lipstick and blush.

"Did you hear what the guy said?" she said. "Your name is Stinky Pete. I never knew that, did you?"

He didn't answer, not that she had expected him to. For many years now, he had only ever spoken a single phrase.

The Barbie put her hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. "Well, no point trying to find a new life _here_," she said. "I guess we're taking to the streets again." She hopped out of the box and onto the floor. "Come on, buddy."

The prospector shakily got to his feet and followed her, his expression not at all changing from the one he wore in his toy state.

"We're gonna be okay," the Barbie said.

"I feel pretty," the prospector said dully.

She smiled. He was still okay. "You're _very_ pretty," she assured him.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Anyway," Andy continued. "These dolls—even the incomplete set, even in their played-with state—they're exceptionally valuable. I found out when I was about thirteen. Any one of these three guys would fetch me _thousands_ if I was going to sell them."

Yvonne was surprised. "So, why didn't you?" she asked.

Andy looked down at Woody. "Well, he's my favorite," he said.

Yvonne watched Andy look down at the cowboy for several moments.

"I can't sell my toys," Andy finally said. "They're not supposed to be collected. It just shouldn't be done. They're supposed to be played with."

"Wow," Yvonne whispered.

"Don't tell Bonnie any of this, okay?" Andy whispered. "I don't know yet if I can really trust her… but I'm leaning towards it."

"She… she knows that toys are for playing," Yvonne said.

"Yeah," Andy said. He hopped Woody onto Bullseye's back and rode him around a little.

"You really believe this, don't you?" Yvonne observed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Later, Andy and Yvonne went out into the night air to check out Mrs. Anderson's garden.

"Think she's okay?" Yvonne muttered, waving to Hannah in the car, who waved back.

"I don't know," Andy said. "I think she had a… discussion… with her mother before we left. Or something like that."

They looked down at the flowers. Bonnie was inside the house, helping her mother make a dessert.

"I didn't think I could do it," Yvonne said. "Play with toys, I mean. But I did it."

"Yes, you did," Andy said. "You know, I've never told anyone else what I said about Woody. I just couldn't bear to listen to anybody… trying to convince me to sell them. But I… I felt like you should know the way I live my life."

"You take it seriously," Yvonne said.

"…What?" Andy said, laughing. "I thought we've spent the whole night playing."

"Well, sure," Yvonne said. "But that's… that's a part of life, an important part." She looked at him. "It's something I've been missing."

Yvonne drew a taloned hand to the back of Andy's neck, tugging him towards her. Her black-painted lips met his. Delighted, he drew his hands to her hips, pulling himself as close to her as he could get.

This didn't go unnoticed in Bonnie's empty room. A number of toys crept up to the windowsill to get a good look.

"Whoa, look at Andy go!" Mr. Potato Head said. "The beanpole finally got a girl interested in him."

"Aw, all the girls love Andy," Jessie said, leaning on Buzz. "But… _wow_, who taught him to do that?"

"He's taken some steps in a relationship," Woody said. "It's not generally something he'd do in front of his toys, that's all."

He hopped off the windowsill and walked deeper into the room, gathering up Cleo under his arm. "Good for Andy," he said fondly. He had always entertained the fantasy that when Bonnie grew too old for them, she would pass them to Andy's child… but it was a mere dream, not worth dwelling on when there was a life to be lived right now.

"Good for Andy," he said again, brushing his face against Cleo's hair.

"I love Andy," Jessie said. "I mean… I know you're supposed to, when it's your kid. But it's more than that. I loved him because of who he really is."

"He's a good kid," Woody agreed. "It was fun to play with him again… yeah, I think in my heart I'll always be Bonnie's toy _and_ Andy's, no matter what else happens in the future."


	30. Andy's House

**Toy Fic**

**30. Andy's House**

Andy, Hannah, and Yvonne took their final stop, striding casually into the cute little Davis house on Elm Street.

"Hey, Andy!" Molly called out, gripping his hand tightly. "It's good to see you. What's new?"

"Oh, passing all my classes…" Andy said. "Got a girlfriend now, I think…" He turned uncertainly to Yvonne, who beamed. "Stuff like that. How are you doing, Molly?"

"I'm good," Molly said. "I'm real good. Check me out—I'm wearing a bra."

"That's a reason _not_ to look at you, actually," Andy said. "So, how's the house been with me away?"

"Pure bliss," Molly said, not missing a beat.

"Oh, get real," Andy said. "You've been miserable without me here."

"No, actually, I haven't even noticed you're gone," Molly said.

"Really?" Andy said. "'Cause I have. Weird thing about college, something I can't lay my finger on… oh yeah, it's _quiet_."

"Yeah?" Molly said. "I feel sorry for you, all alone up there without me there to remind you that you're not cool."

Andy's mom entered the room. "He's here all of a minute and you're already ribbing on each other," she said. "Dial it down a notch, kids."

Andy and Molly laughed, pausing only to poke each other.

"Hi, Mom," Andy said.

"Oh, Andy, it's so good to see you again," she said, hugging him tightly. "I've missed you… so, who are my guests today?" she asked.

"Well, this is Yvonne," Andy said. "My fr… well, I guess we're dating now."

"Yup," Yvonne said, punching Andy in the arm.

"And, my good buddy Hannah," Andy finished.

Mrs. Davis looked at Hannah, surprised. "Hannah… Hannah Phillips?"

Hannah was surprised. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Well, we lived next door to you until Andy was six," Mrs. Davis said. "You guys didn't know that?"

"No," Hannah said, looking at Andy in surprise.

"No, I don't remember much of anything before this house," Andy admitted. He thought about it. "Well, Dad, I guess. I remember Dad. But, yeah, I had no idea we lived next door…"

"So why did you start hanging out, then?" Mrs. Davis asked.

"We just… _did_, I guess," Hannah said with forced brightness.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

As Andy sat on the couch, his mom let out a huge sigh and collapsed onto the cushion next to him.

"Oooooh…" she said. "I really have missed you, you know."

"I know, Mom," he said. "It's been hard for me, too. I wake up every morning, and… well, nothing's been done _for_ me, I've gotta do it. Makes me appreciate you."

"Good, good," Mrs. Davis muttered. "It's hard seeing you grow up, I wish I could always take care of you. Sometimes I forget that there's only one other person in this house I have to worry about."

"Are you worried about Molly?" Andy asked.

"I'm scared to death of teenage girls, Andy," Mom confessed. "I _was_ one. There's no method of prevention for it, Andy, they're… horrifying. I might be overstating things, but I'm scared for my life of what Molly might become. Oh, boy, I miss the girl in the Winnie the Pooh pajamas waving her magic wand around. But evidently, someone's told her that puberty makes a person instant royalty."

Andy laughed. "Well, at least she's self-confident. I don't think she's going to be 'evil', Mom. I have faith in Molly."

"I'm glad you do," Mom said. "Right now, I'm happy for _you_, Andy. It seems like you're taking to the real world in stride."

"Yeah," Andy said. "I think life is pretty good."

Mom thought about it for a moment. "Your friend Hannah seems a bit glum," she said.

"She always does," Andy said. "Don't read anything into it."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

An hour later, Bo watched Andy leave, and dejectedly pressed her head against the wall of the air vent.

"Unbelievable," she muttered. "It was so wonderful seeing Andy, but… how can he be here for an hour and never once mention where his toys have gone?" She sighed; she knew the answer. "Well, he's seventeen. It's not that big a part of his life, I guess."

"Bo," came a soft voice.

"Oh, hi Edward," she muttered. "I'll be okay, we'll just have to dig up another lead sometime."

"I know," Edward said. "Your thoughts came ringing up to me, and I… had to come down."

"Thanks," Bo said.

"Actually…" Edward muttered. "I'm afraid I wasn't being completely selfless in that regard."

Bo looked at him.

"See, I've listened to a lot of toys' thoughts," Edward said. "But no one's ever entranced me as much as you, Bo."

He loomed over her, her back on the wall of the duct.

"I apologize," he whispered. "But, see, I've had these feelings. And I had to tell you. I think… that I love you. I will always love you, Bo Peep. Our time together has been the best time of my life. And I want to tell you… if we should discover the worst about your old friends, or if simply too much time has passed… I want to be with you, Bo."

"Edward…" Bo began.

"I know, I know. I have the unfair advantage. But I'll allow you to sift through my mind at any time, to allow you to know me as no one else ever has."

"Edward, no," Bo said. "I'm… I'm still hung up on Woody."

"I know," Edward said again, putting a finger to her lips. "That's why I'm saying… only if something has happened…"

"Yes," Bo said. "If… if there's no chance at all… I'll go straight to you, I promise. Because I love you. I love you like I love our whole attic family. But, see…"

"I know," he said yet again. She spoke anyway.

"I'll always be holding out hope. Woody is the one."


	31. Checking

**Toy Fic**

**31. Checking**

**A.K.A. Classic Locker Room Confrontation**

Cleo wrapped herself in a washcloth, and curled another one around her hair. Bonnie had just finished a bath with her select number of toys and dolls who could endure that, and after packing up her toys to dry, had retired to the living room. Cleo entered the corrugated-cardboard dollhouse and into its walk-in wardrobe, ignoring the many Barbie clothes in favor of the small section that was only for her. She selected her pajamas, and tugged them on, ready for a night of snuggling with Woody.

The closet door swung shut behind her, and she looked up to see Jessie standing there, leaning against the wall, her hat down over her eyes.

"Hey there, doll," Jessie drawled.

"Um… hi," Cleo responded blankly.

"I just want to remind you," Jessie said. "Don't think you can just mess around with Woody. 'Cause there's a lot of people in this room who will give you hell if you hurt him."

Cleo laughed. "And I suppose everybody sent you to rough me up, huh?"

Jessie tipped her hat up, revealing her face. "No, this is all me."

"Yeah?" Cleo said with a smirk. "So… what are you gonna do about it, exactly? 'Cause, um… I think I could take you."

"Really?" Jessie said, stepping up to her. "Snark all you want, kid. You're as tall as my legs, and most of that is because of your giant head. Don't think you can threaten me."

"Oh," Cleo said. "I don't think I'd be talking about proportions if I had a chest… like… that." She flicked Jessie's torso three times.

"Mm-hmm, that'll be because I'm an actual toy," Jessie retorted. "You know, for children."

Cleo growled angrily and shoved Jessie into the wall. "Are you saying I'm not good for Bonnie?" she demanded. "'Cause then you're about to cross some lines."

"Hey, hey, hey!" came a voice. Rapunzel rushed in, standing between the two of them. "Please…" she said. "Don't do this."

"I don't know how much you heard," Jessie said. "But if you knew what this creep was saying…"

"I heard plenty," Rapunzel said. "You two are being ridiculous. The fact is, you both care for Woody, you both have huge heads, and you're both a part of this community. You shouldn't fight like this."

Jessie smiled at Rapunzel as she stood up. "You know, 'Punzel, I never noticed before, but you're real cute. They should make a movie about you."

Rapunzel giggled. "I think somebody beat you to that one, Jess. But thanks! I'm flattered."

"Hey, cowgirl," Cleo said sharply. "We still got a problem?"

"All depends," Jessie replied. "I was just… checking."

"Because, you know, I _adore_ Woody," Cleo said. "And if you've got a problem with me and him, well, maybe you should reconsider whether or not you actually respect _him_. 'Cause, you know, he chose me."

Jessie nodded. "That's true. He did. Well, kid, we'll see how this goes."


	32. Defection

**Toy Fic**

Waaaaay back in Chapter 17 I had a little fun with Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot… and it didn't seem like anyone knew who they were. Regardless, my plan to integrate them as recurring characters commences now.

**32. Defection**

In the early hours of the day, two tiny, die-cast robots popped out of a door.

"Are you sure about all this, Crow?" Servo said. "You've had some off-the-wall ideas before."

"You're going to bunny out?" Crow said harshly.

"Well, no, but—"

"'Cause if you diss my decisions, I will have to cut you."

"Okay, okay! It's a wonderful idea."

The two of them bobbed down the front walk of the McHappy Place, and as quickly as they could, crossed the street, and discreetly slipped into an air duct near the front doors of Sunnyside Daycare.

They shimmied along the walls near the front desk, trying to avoid the attention of the woman going over paperwork there and the small child playing with a cymbal-banging monkey nearby.

"Keep your voice down," Crow muttered.

"Got it," Servo said.

"I'm serious—shush!"

"Crow!"

The Monkey's eyes turned toward the two small bots, and they screamed, bolting down the hallway.

"Where are we going?" Servo said frantically.

"Um, Butterfly Room!" Crow said. "There's a transom."

"What on earth is a—?"

"I don't know! But it's what we're looking for."

The children were out for recess; the two had chosen this time to sneak out of their point of origin. Somehow, the two got to the doorknob and swung into the room.

Instantly, they were surrounded by toys who were distinctly snarky and hostile.

"What have we got here?" Stretch said, climbing up to them and wrapping two tentacles around them. "Trying to infiltrate?"

"AHHHH!" Servo screamed. "Um, take us to your leader."

"Yeah," Crow said quickly.

The two were marched to the Dream House, where Barbie and Ken were called down to inspect the prisoners.

"So," Ken sneered. "The McHappy Place is finally moving against us, is it?"

"Ken," Barbie chided. "Hear them out. They might have perfectly reasonable demands."

"Demands?" Crow said. "No, we just… we want to live here."

Barbie smiled. "You want to move to Sunnyside? Is… is that allowed?"

"Well," Crow said thoughtfully. "The thing is…"

"WE HATE LIFE!" Servo said, collapsing at Barbie's feet. "WE HAVE NOWHERE ELSE TO GO! PLEASE TAKE US IN! WE CAN'T DEAL WITH CORPORATE GREED ANYMORE…"

"Um, yeah," Crow said. "We don't—"

"Shh," Barbie said. "What were you saying, Servo?"

"We don't like the McHappy Place," Servo wept. "DO NOT WANT!"

"Um, yeah!" Crow said quickly, implementing a sob similar to Servo's. "We can't deal… we're, um, sad, and… stuff and… junk."

"Barbie, you think… can we trust McHappy toys?" Ken whispered.

"I _know_ we can," Barbie said. "Boys… welcome to Sunnyside."

"Really?" Servo said, his voice clearing immediately as he hopped upright. "Sweet! PARTY!"

"RAVE!" Crow roared.

The two of them streaked across the room, followed by a quickly drawn-in crowd of toys.

"All right, it's a party," Ken said.

Barbie blinked, suddenly not entirely sure.


	33. Group Fantasy

**Toy Fic**

Hey, everybody. Well, even though I've said I won't stop until this is the largest fic in the Toy Story archive, I've decided instead to create an outline to the end of the story—it ends at Chapter 60. Still pretty big. But hopefully, now that I've got this outline, I'll be pretty quick to get out of this rut.

Also, it's my birthday. I'm 19, and it's starting to creep in on me that I can do better things with my days than FanFiction… but I'm going to finish the things I've started.

**33. Group Fantasy**

Buzz loitered under the windowsill, where Jessie had asked him to wait. She came up running to him cheerfully.

"Hi, Jess," Buzz said. "So, what's been on your mind?"

"Oh, not much," she said lightly. "Just wondering if you'd care to have a 'group fantasy'."

Buzz frowned. "What's that?"

"Well, it's like playtime, but no kids involved. Just you and me—maybe something a bit more romantic than Bonnie could cook up."

Buzz smiled. "I understand… I'd enjoy that."

The two of them lay down on the ground, head-to-head, and closed their eyes.

"So, what'll it be?" Jessie asked. "Deep space or Old West?"

"Oh, we've done both of those already," Buzz said. "How about the Renaissance?"

"There's thinking outside the box," Jessie said. "Let's do it."

And, even though her eyes were closed, she clearly saw Buzz standing in front of her in a wide-open, bright room, holding a paintbrush in his teeth.

"This'll be your Renaissance workshop?" Jessie said, looking around.

"Yeah," Buzz said. "You know, I know you've got an aversion to cramped and dark spaces…"

Jessie shrugged. "Eh, I've had a couple years to get over that… funny thing, recently I'm not crazy about fire either."

Buzz flinched. "I know what you mean."

"So, what are we doing?" Jessie asked. "Gonna paint me? Sculpt me?"

"That could be good…" Buzz began, but was interrupted by a giggle from the corner of the workshop. They turned their heads to see Belle and Mr. Cold snuggled up there.

"Hey!" Jessie said. "You guys mind? This is _our_ fantasy."

"Oh, sorry," Belle said, standing up. "We'll, um… we'd better put on _Beauty and the Virus_ somewhere else."

She picked up Mr. Cold and slipped out through the workshop door.

"_Beauty and the Virus_…" Buzz mused. "I'd pay to see that."

"With different romantic leads, of course," Jessie said.

"Probably, yeah," Buzz agreed.

"Anyway…" Jessie said. "If you're gonna paint me, I should probably get out of these cl—"

A tambourine went off, accompanied by Dolly's calls of, "Staff meeting, everybody!"

Jessie and Buzz's eyes snapped open, and they got to their feet, embarrassed, to gather with everybody else at the foot of Bonnie's bed. Dolly was standing on the wicker toybox, with Woody sitting off to the side.

"Hi, everyone," she said. "Well, Woody and I have been discussing the social activities going on here in the room. We've kind of been breaking off, doing our own thing as individuals. But I'm thinking we should put more effort into getting along with each other, don't you?" She turned to Woody.

"Yeah, I completely agree," Woody said. He beamed at Dolly, who smiled back uncertainly. "We all need to be friendlier, because Bonnie is on good terms with all of us, and that shouldn't change."

"So… no more isolating," Dolly said. "Each of us has to examine our relationship with _everyone_ else here. The twenty-nine of us aren't leaving each other's sight for any reason."

Buzz and Jessie glanced at each other. "A good exercise with rotten timing," she whispered. "You'll have to paint me later, ranger."

Buzz nodded, his knees shaking.


	34. Rescuer of Toys

**Toy Fic**

Okay. I'm gonna finish this thing! I took the ADD medication that I usually take only on school days, and am applying it to _Toy __Fic_. Behold, then, many, many chapters posted all in the course of one day. Every couple of days or so, I'll throw in another boatload of chapters.

While I begin the home stretch, I'd just like to extend a big ol' thank you to anyone who's still sticking with this project. For those of you who post reviews… well, I'm sure you know by now what I want. That being, reviews for every chapter. If you can.

**34. Rescuer of Toys**

Sid arrived at work at the landfill. As usual, he wore his headphones and accompanied his every movement with dancing and pounding.

The dance, however, was merely for the joy of living. His music was off; he wanted to hear.

He wanted to hear any comment that Tiny might have about everyday life. The little orange cat was in his vest pocket. He had chosen her as his daily companion, not only for being among the most portable of his toys, but because she had been the first to speak to him, and was now the one who most frequently approached him for conversation.

For most of his life, Sid had thought of himself as a deadbeat, with his dreadful high school grades and his low-earning job, but with his lifetime of maintaining toys having finally come to a head, he felt like the richest man in the world.

As he sorted items for the landfill, he exchanged questions and answers with Tiny, questions he had been dying to know for years.

"Why is it you don't let people see you come alive?" Sid asked. "Is it an instinct, or just a rule you're supposed to follow?"

"I don't know, Sid," Tiny replied. "It just is."

"And, how _can_ you come alive?" Sid mused. "It's gotta be magic, right? So who's responsible?"

"I really don't know," Tiny said. "You're asking questions that have no answers, Sid. Toys are the way we are because… just because."

Sid sighed and nodded. His expectations had never been very high.

"It's my turn to ask the questions," Tiny reminded him.

"Shoot," Sid replied happily.

"All right, better make this a good one," Tiny muttered. "Why do you work with trash?"

"Toys," Sid said simply. "All the toys. I find them here in the clutter… they're always on the edges of a pile, like they want to leave but have given up. And I take them in."

Tiny smiled up at him. "But you know, Sid… you can't rescue us all. You can't make us immortal."

"I know," Sid said. "I've always kind of known… but I _can_ rescue every single one that I see with my own two eyes. It's the least I can do."

"It's the _best_ you could do," Tiny said. "And you do it well."

Tiny abruptly went still and silent, and a second later Sid heard footsteps coming toward him from around the trash pile.

"Mornin', Sid," came a gruff voice as a pair of large men passed him.

"Hey, Ed," Sid replied. "Morning, Ralph."

Sid continued his work, waiting for the men to walk out of earshot. Before they did, however, something in the distance caught his eye.

"No," Sid muttered. "No _way_."

Tiny was curious enough to risk moving her eyes to see what had stunned Sid so badly, and understood immediately. Tied to the front of a garbage truck were four plush toys.

"Oh!" Tiny gasped in surprise.

Sid was already belting across the landfill toward the truck. As he reached it, he looked them over. "What a horrible fate," he mumbled. "Okay, I'm gonna get you guys out of there. I know all about toys, trust me…"

He began working on the bindings around a filthy green frog, then paused.

"I… I know that you're alive," he said gently. "You can speak to me."

The toys remained unmoving.

"See, here's the thing," Sid muttered. "I'm not sure if there's any space in my house for any more toys. The place is packed… packed full of toys who are perfectly willing to come to life in front of me… who are _grateful_ that I rescued them."

Sid considered it for a second. "I can't rescue every toy," he muttered. "So… I think from now on I should only rescue the ones who'll speak to me. If you'd rather get carted around on a garbage truck… well, it's your call."

There was silence for a few more seconds. "Okay then," Sid said. He turned around, intending to return to his search of the trash piles.

"Wait," came a drawling voice.

Sid stood up stiffly before turning around. The large pink teddy bear was looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Take me down from here," the bear begged. "I don't care where you bring me, just get me offa this truck. Please."

The frog, pink cat, and indistinct purple lump had all come to life to gape at the bear.

Sid smiled. That was good enough for him; the other victims would be taken in as well.

He began untying the bear.

"I'm Sid," he said. "Sid Phillips."

"You do this a lot?" the bear asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I've got lots of toys back home that I saved. What's your name?"

"Lots-O-Huggin' Bear… Lotso."

Sid had extricated him from the truck's grille, and held him beneath one arm as he set to work on the other toys.

Tiny poked her head out of Sid's pocket to smile at Lotso.

"Hi there," she said.

Lotso gave her a squinty-eyed grin in return. "And hello to you, little darlin'."


	35. Mortality

**Toy Fic**

**35. Mortality**

"Hey, Slink," Woody called from the floor.

Slinky nodded to him from a higher shelf. "How y'all doin'?"

"Great. Hey, while you're up there, can you pass me one of those _Harry __Potter_ books?"

Slinky scanned the shelf. "Whoa, these are mighty big… ah, there ya go. Nice little ones over here. Year three, year two… year one. Will year one do it for ya, cowboy?"

"Sounds perfect," Woody said, smiling. "Toss it down here."

Slinky threw him the battered paperback. "Thank you kindly, Slink," Woody called with a salute. He heaved the book over his shoulder and headed back to Bonnie's room.

Mr. Pricklepants shuffled up to him as he walked down the hall. "Ah, Woody," he said. "With our premiere of _Othello_ and the season being almost over, I'm wondering if you'd help me put together the production of _Spamalot_ for which a script recently found its way to my hands…"

"Broadway?" Woody asked. "Hmm… well, I'm not much for hitting the high notes if that's what you mean, but sure, I can help you prepare."

"Ah, wonderful," Mr. Pricklepants said, bowing. "I'll inform Buttercup. We're quite excited about this."

"Sure," Woody said, smiling.

He entered the bedroom and heaved himself up to the bed, opening the book.

"_Harry __Potter_?" said a voice.

Woody jumped. He hadn't realized that Dolly was resting at the foot of the bed.

"Oh, hey," he said. "You scared me there. Yeah, I thought I'd see how these things are. Practically lost Andy to them back in '01, so I figured I might as well… you know."

"Yeah," Dolly said. "You and Andy did a lot together, didn't you?"

"Um… yeah," Woody said, feeling sidelined by the question.

"But that's over now," Dolly said.

"Well, sure," Woody replied. "I guess I still kind of see myself as Andy's toy _and_ Bonnie's toy, considering Andy comes over to play so much… but, yeah. Old times with Andy are… gone."

Dolly nodded, standing up to take a few steps towards Woody. "What… what happens when Bonnie grows up?"

Woody stared at her, surprised at the seriousness of her face.

"Come on, she's five," Woody said. "Way too early to be…"

"What about when she's _not_ five?" Dolly asked. "That… that'll be here before we know it. It's just… I'm Bonnie's favorite. I've been with her since the day she was born. The very day, Woody! But what about a year from now, when she has a new favorite? What about ten years, twenty years, when she doesn't want us at all? It's going to end. Don't try to tell me it's not going to end."

Woody was silent.

"Well?" Dolly demanded.

"What brought this on, Doll?" Woody asked.

"It's just… it's true, isn't it?" Dolly said.

"Yeah," Woody said. "Yeah, it's true. But don't worry. Maybe Bonnie will find a new kid for us… maybe Andy will have children, and Bonnie will remember…"

"Uh-huh. And _then_?" Dolly snapped. "You can't pretend it's going to be an endless cycle. Someday… we're all going to die."

Woody clutched her shoulder tightly. "Yes," he said. "Yes, we are."

Dolly stared at him, as if shocked that he would admit it.

"Everything dies," Woody said. "Toys. People. Even civilizations… _especially_ civilizations. Nothing is going to last forever."

"Can't we, though?" Dolly whispered.

"Well, we're reasonably well-cared-for toys. We can prolong it, sure, but… we can't plan for everything. When my time comes… I think I'll be ready. I've faced it enough times, after all…"

Dolly looked horrified.

"Dolly… don't fear death," Woody said. "Love life. We have _years_ ahead of us. Enjoy them." Dolly hadn't moved. "Look, I can't make you stop being afraid," he said gently. "Toys die, it's a fact. All we can do is savor our days." He squeezed her shoulder again. "Okay?"

"Okay," Dolly mumbled. "Forgive me."

"For what?"

"Oh, you know… taking time out of your day to talk about our mortality… just call me Little Miss Bring-Down…"

"Aw, it's okay," Woody said with a laugh. "Wouldn't be much of a life if we didn't think of it now and then."

"I guess," Dolly said.

Mr. Pricklepants popped over the rim of the bed. "Ah, Dolly, I thought I'd find you here," he said. "Would you consider reading for the part of the Lady of the Lake in our production of _Spamalot_?"

"Me?" Dolly said, surprised. "The Lady of the Lake? Well… sure."

"Oh, cowboy," came a call from the closet.

Woody spotted Cleo, peering out from behind the closet door and crooking a finger toward him. He slid nonchalantly off the bed, as Dolly and Mr. Pricklepants did the same a few feet away.

"Thanks," Dolly whispered.

"…Thank _you_," Woody replied.


	36. Friction

**Toy Fic**

**36. Friction**

Trixie hopped off the computer table and crossed the dining room, giggling all the while.

Jessie, leaning against a doorframe, took notice.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," Trixie said. "Just, ADAM was just completely flirting with me while we did our multiplayer game…"

"Oh?" Jessie said darkly. She heard Rex halt in his tracks behind her.

"Yeah, it was nothing much…" Trixie said happily. "He said he dreams about me every night… and then he said that if he could have his way, he'd waltz right on over here to live with us."

"That's disgusting," Rex sneered.

Jessie turned to look at him, and Trixie frowned. Rex looked from side to side, realizing that most of the toys in the living room and dining room had their eyes on him.

"Did I say that audibly?" he asked.

"Yes," Trixie replied, walking past Jessie to get a better look at him. "Yes, you did."

"Trixie, I think Rex has something he wants to tell you," Jessie said.

"I don't think _that_ little prod is necessary at this juncture," Rex hissed to Jessie.

"Rex, what's… what's wrong?" Trixie asked, wide-eyed and confused.

"Well…" he said, inhaling deeply. "Would it… would it be outside my bounds if I said that I don't want you to stay in touch with ADAM anymore?"

"Um… maybe, why?" Trixie said.

"I just… I feel like he's bad for you," Rex stammered. "I care about you, and… well, he scares me."

Trixie tried to process that. "You mean… his being in touch with _me_ scares you?"

"No," Rex said firmly. "No. He just scares me."

"Rex, don't—" Jessie warned.

"Please…" Rex said. "If not for yourself, then for me? He's the _wrong_ choice. Will you please stop contacting him?"

"Well, I…" Trixie stammered for a moment. "No! I can't do that… ADAM's been my friend for years, I can't just walk out on him…"

"He's not your friend!" Rex burst out. "He's… I saw the way he leers at you! I care about you too much, Trixie. I can't allow you to do this anymore."

Jessie inhaled sharply. Trixie's brow furrowed dangerously.

Up on the windowsill, Chuckles could be heard muttering, "And so an icy, bitter wind blew through the whole house…"

"You can't _allow_ me?" Trixie said. "I'd like to see you try and stop me, Rex. ADAM warned me this would happen… ugh! I can't believe you'd say that! I'm not your possession, Rex. I'm not ADAM's possession, I'm not anybody's possession… well, Bonnie."

"I was gonna say…" Jessie said wryly.

"And you!" Trixie said, staring up at Jessie. "You have a part in this? All your prompting and prodding…"

"Well, sure," Jessie said. "Just call me a Rex/Trixie 'shipper-on-deck'."

Trixie snorted, then whirled on Rex, abruptly seeming like a very real, very hostile territorial dinosaur.

"Stay away from me," she said, walking past him to the bedroom.

Rex watched her leave, unaware of Jessie's approach until she grabbed him by the shoulders and whirled him towards her.

"Fix this," she said. "Fix it, fix it, fix it! You've gotta fix this, Rex!"

"But… how? Why?" Rex demanded wildly.

"Well, apologize or somethin'!" Jessie said. "That's a good place to start."

"But—" Rex began again.

"Come on, green stuff," Jessie said gently. "Do you love that dinosaur or don't you?"

"Well… yes," Rex said.

"Then fix it," Jessie whispered. "Fix it now."

"Now?" Rex repeated. "But she's so steamed at me…"

"Okay, not now," Jessie conceded. "Fix it… later." She kissed Rex on the brow. "Just fix it. I know you can."


	37. Warnings

**Toy Fic**

**37. Warnings**

Sid sat in his bed reading his monthly heavy metal magazine when his bedroom door creaked open. Turning his head, his heart leapt with joy at the sight of the three tattered old puppets he'd rescued along with Lotso.

"Hey, fellas," he said with a smile. "You guys feeling better?"

"Head 'n' shoulders better," the frog said with a bow. Sid had run them through the washing machine a couple of times and they were now completely clean, if still missing a few bits of fluff. "We'd just like t' thank ya… we're much obliged…"

"And we thought we'd pass y'all a warnin'," the cat added.

"A warnin'?" Sid repeated. "What kind of warnin' are we talking about here?"

The frog rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Ooh, it's tough t' know where to start… um, we didn't introduce ourselves. Frawgz McGee is… uhhh, is my name. My name is… is Frawgz McGee."

"Sure," Sid said, nodding.

"This here's Catgut," Frawgz continued, motioning to the pink cat. "And back there's Zibby. Zibby, could ya keep an eye or two on that there door, make sure we're not overheard?"

The purple creature nodded, pushing the door toward its frame until it was open only a crack.

"What's going on here, guys?" Sid said nervously.

"It's about that bear… that Lotso bear you got…" Frawgz began. "Look, I ain't sayin' I've got regrets, but…"

"Ya got yerself one disturbed bear right here," Catgut finished.

"Oh," Sid muttered. "Well, come on, guys… you spent how long tied to the grille of that truck? I'm sure you're all a bit disturbed."

"Yeah… yeah, no denyin'," Frawgz muttered. "But that Lotso… he were disturbed _before_ he got tied up."

"We toys, y'know," Catgut said, "we try to take our lot in life with a stiff upper lip an' all that…"

"But Lotso, he fought it," Frawgz said, picking up the thread as if he and Catgut were identical twins. "Always tryin' to pull hisself outta those bindings… mumbling about some Sheriff and some Daisy and who all knows what else…"

"And revenge," said Zibby from the door.

Sid jumped in surprise. He had expected yet another deep-fried drawl, but Zibby's voice was a deep, hoarse whisper that placed menace in every syllable.

"We became… frightened," Zibby said. "Even in the deluded state of mind we were in, we all knew something was wrong with him."

"But… what?" Sid asked.

"Some toys have a spotted past, Sid," Zibby said solemnly. "I suspect Lotso was wronged once, and seeks to wrong others in return… to wrong _everyone_. We believed that he was better off tied up as he was."

Zibby stared up at Sid. "And now you've saved us… and him. Releasing him may have been harmless enough, but you also opened him up to the notion that he doesn't need to freeze in front of real people. So, what's keeping him bound in your home? Nothing. What's to stop him achieving his goals? …Nothing."

Zibby stopped talking then, one eye on the crack of the door. The room was silent for a few moments. Frawgz and Catgut stared up at Sid.

"Look, fellas…" Sid began.

"Just remember what we told ya, okay?" Catgut said. "We… we might be wrong."

Sid rolled off of his bed and got down on his knees to comfort the toys.

"Everything's gonna be okay," he assured them. "I understand, you guys have probably been through a lot more pain than most…" He paused, trying to search his brain for the thing that toys would find most comforting. "I know. How would you guys like to sleep in my bed with me? I know I'm kind of big and hairy, not the ideal kid, but…"

"Could we?" Frawgz said. "If'n we could, we'd… well, we'd be much obliged to ya, again…"

"If it'll make you feel better," Sid said. "Come on up here right now."

The three of them did so. Zibby looked up at Sid with a grateful smile, then touched his hand, becoming serious again.

"Sid…" he said. "You pride yourself on your art in toy restoration, and not without reason… but some wounds go beyond the stitching and the paint. Some toys can't be restored."

Sid squeezed Zibby's shapeless hand. "I understand completely."


	38. Decisions, Decisions

**Toy Fic**

**38. Decisions, Decisions**

"Oh, by the way, Molly?" Mrs. Davis said.

"Yo," Molly replied, turning to her mom.

"Your PR campaign is going smoothly—you've got a babysitting job."

Bo was half-listening from the attic, absently rubbing Bob Buttons' velvet flanks as she watched Ard and Hippocampus play with a dusty old checkers set that she remembered well.

"Really?" Molly said. "Suh-weet. Knew I could do it."

"Yeah, well, apparently Mrs. Anderson trusts you more than I do," Mom said dryly.

"Anderson… Anderson… oh! The kid that Andy gave all his old toys to?"

Bo got to her feet rapidly, then regretted it as her glued ankle twinged with pain… it still wasn't the same.

"Yeah, that's right," Mom said. "You'll be taking care of Bonnie later tonight while I'm out with her mom."

Bo got down to the ground, listening as hard as she was able. At last a clue, a glorious clue…

"Okay. Here?" Molly asked.

"No, there."

"All right, just tell me where to go."

Bo clenched her fists.

"It's right around the corner," Mom said casually.

_No,_ Bo thought. _Come __on, __give __me __the __actual __address, __please, __please, __please_…

"1225 Sycamore," Mom finished.

"Right _on_," Molly said, pumping her arms. "I'm gonna hit the big money!"

"Well, just don't forget your dear old mother when the world bows to your superior entrepreneurial spirit, all right?" Mom teased.

Bo heaved herself to her feet with her cane, grinning triumphantly at her attic fellows, who had all stopped in their activities to stare at her.

"1225 Sycamore," Bo said, barely daring to believe it. "Bonnie Anderson. The kid Andy gave all his old toys to. We've got our answer, you guys."

"Can you be sure that Woody—" Ard began.

"Oh, don't even!" Bo hissed, holding up a finger to silence him. "Woody was Andy's first toy, and unless the kid became completely unsentimental—which he didn't—he'd make absolutely sure that he was also his _last_. We know _exactly_ where he is."

Holiday Barbie stepped up to Bo and gave her a tight hug. "It's all going to work out for you, isn't it?" she said.

"Yeah," Bo said confidently. "It is."

"Well… good," Hippocampus said slowly.

"Yes, good," Edward whispered.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Minutes later, the six of them clambered out the attic window and snuck along the roof. Bo, Edward, Ard, Hippocampus, and Barbie rappelled to the ground on a string of Christmas lights, which Bob Buttons reeled in and replaced before leaping after them into the front yard's bushes.

"What do you think?" Bo said. "Can we risk heading out now, or should we wait until dark?"

"Your call," Hippocampus said instantly. "It's your party, Bo."

Bo beamed at him. "Thanks… well, we're on our way right now, then."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

As it turned out, it took them a few hours to get to Bonnie's house. In fact, night had fallen and Molly was there ahead of them, watching TV with Bonnie in the living room and listening as Bonnie chattered away.

"Let's sneak into the side yard," Bo said. "We'll peek in a window… if we find a room with toys, we know we're golden…"

"Bo," Hippocampus said seriously. "Listen, Bo… don't get your hopes up too high, okay? I don't want to see you fall…"

"I won't," Bo said firmly. "If Woody isn't here, then… then nothing. He's here."

The group found their way to a window, and Bo knew immediately that she was right, that everything was going to be okay, because Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head were sitting on the windowsill.

Bo approached. The couple looked down at her and gaped. Bo smiled and gave a little wave.

The Potato Heads heaved the window open and stared down at her. "Bo Peep?" Mr. Potato Head whispered.

"Hi, Potato Head," Bo said, bowing her head. "Can my friends and I come in?"

Potato Head looked around. "Well, I don't know. Bonnie and Molly are here. If they decide to walk in…"

"Please," Bo said, giving the two her sweetest eyes.

Mrs. Potato Head sighed and smiled at her. "Oh, sweetheart… come on up here." She turned around and called to the whole room, "Everyone, look who's here!"

Bo smiled as many more faces filled the window, some familiar and some not. The entire room worked together to get Bo and her five friends into the room.

"Bo, you're limping!" Hamm said, surprised.

"It's okay," Bo said quickly. "I just tripped, a while ago… these guys glued my foot back on…"

"Oh, hey," Hamm said, looking over Edward. "You're a doll of that kid, um… Justin Bieber, right?"

"What? No, I'm Edward Cullen…"

Rex, who had been exchanging a loving greeting with Bo, turned at the sound of the name. "Aah!" he screamed excitedly. "You _are_ Edward!"

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Trixie squealed. "Hey, hey—Team Edward!"

"I certainly hope so," Edward said, flashing Trixie a brief smile. "I deplore those ships that directly contradict the canon, don't you?"

Trixie and Rex sighed together and practically swooned. Rex grabbed Trixie's frill to steady himself. Remembering that he and Trixie weren't speaking, he stepped away, muttering an apology. Trixie looked up at him as he backed away, not looking at her, and smiled to herself. _Oh, __Rex_…

"Bo, how'd you get here?" Jessie demanded.

"It's a long story…" Bo muttered. "Now, where is… oh…"

The crowd parted as Woody stepped forward. Bo gazed at him, almost believing she had gone crazy…

"Bo," Woody said, and Bo fell upon him, weeping.

"Woody," she muttered. "I've missed you so much…"

Woody gasped out a sob of his own. "Yeah… me too…"

Bo backed away to look at him. "Why didn't you ever come see me? I was two houses away."

"I know," Woody said. "I think… I think I'd given up…"

"On everything?" Bo asked.

"Yeah," Woody breathed.

Bo sniffled, but her smile grew wide.

"Why are you here, Bo?" Woody asked. "What have you been doing since… since the yard sale…?"

"Well," Bo said, "I've been living with Sid."

Woody froze to think about the name. "Sid? Sid _Phillips_?"

"Yep. He's the garbage man on the old block."

Woody gasped at the revelation. "No way. The headbanger?"

"Uh-huh. And… he took your message to heart, Woody. He takes care of toys… such good care…"

"Wow," Woody said. "I wish there was some way I could… but that doesn't explain why you're here, in Bonnie's house!"

"I've been looking for you, for months," Bo said. "I… I still love you. And I want to be with you again. C-could I…?"

"_What?_" said an incredulous voice.

Bo looked up. Cleo stood there, tapping a foot suspiciously.

"Woody, what _is_ this?" Cleo demanded.

"Bo, this is Cleo," Woody whispered. "I've been… well, I've been seeing her."

"Oh!" Bo said. "Well, I… of course…"

Cleo crossed her arms. "You want him back, is that…? Well, Woody wouldn't do that to me. _Would_ you?" she said darkly, eyeing Woody.

"Well, I…" Woody mumbled.

"By Mattel, you're considering it," Cleo gaped. "No! No way! But… but after everything we… I mean, we were so good together, and—well—well, I guess it's clear-cut. Me or the lawn ornament? Huh, Woody?"

Woody stared at her blankly, then at the silent crowd surrounding him, who seemed just as shocked as he was, and then turned to Bo for help.

"Well, actually," Bo muttered. "I… I wouldn't mind knowing the answer to that question myself."

"But I can't…" Woody began.

"Choose," Cleo said through gritted teeth. "Choose _quickly_."

"Please, Woody," Bo whispered. "You're smart… I know you can figure out the answer."

"Who's it gonna be?" said Cleo.

"Who's the one for you?" said Bo.

"Dolly," Woody said instantly.

A gasp rang out throughout the room.

"Wh… who?" Bo said softly.

"_What?_" Cleo snarled.

Woody scanned the crowd until he found Dolly and began to walk toward her.

"What just happened?" Mr. Potato Head said.

"I don't know," Hamm said. "Buttercup, what just happened?"

"You two owe me money, that's what happened," Buttercup said smugly.

"That's what I thought," Mr. Potato Head grumbled, as he and Hamm produced coins from their respective compartments.

Woody had made it to Dolly, and he kneeled down—not for any symbolic purpose, but simply because she was half his height and he wanted to look at her.

"Dolly," he repeated.

"Yes?" she whispered.

"You've… been so good to me," Woody said. "You're a great friend, someone to knock ideas around with. You understand me, and every toy, and… I love you, Dolly. Would you give me the privilege of… of belonging to you?"

Dolly nodded. "It's all I ever wanted." She hugged him.

"Good…" Woody said. "Good."

Cleo clenched her fists. "You…" she snarled. "You unfaithful hillbilly redneck beans-eating _bastard_!"

Mrs. Potato Head gasped. "That kind of language is _not_ for toys!"

But Cleo was already storming out of the room and into the hall, where the sound of Molly and Bonnie's show could still be heard.

"Cleo, don't…!" Woody called out, but faded off, quickly realizing it was hopeless. He stood up, one hand on Dolly's head, and turned to the spot where Bo stood with Sid's toys.

"Bo, I'm sorry," he said. "I… I know you came all this way…"

"No, no, it's okay," Bo said. "I didn't… I only wanted to find you, just to… I wasn't expecting a miracle, is what I'm saying. We'll… we'll be going back to Molly's now, I guess, hang out in the attic…"

She began to turn away, but Edward touched her hand and looked at Woody.

"Sheriff Woody," he said politely. "Bo is too polite to say it, but she does happen to be wondering if… since, as you said, she came all this way… if she could steal a single kiss, just to part ways as friends…"

Woody blinked. "You're one of those telepathic toys, huh?"

Edward nodded. Woody's eyes flicked to Bo, who had turned back to him and was looking hopeful.

Woody looked down at Dolly, who nodded. "It's fine," she said. "It's nothing… I think we both owe it to her. Just promise you'll save some for me."

"I promise," he said.

He walked up to Bo and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Thank you," she said, her voice cracking. "I love you, Woody."

"I love you, Bo," Woody replied. "I… I hope we see each other again."

Bo nodded. "I'll be in the attic at Molly's house."

"And I'll be here," Woody said.

"Goodbye," Bo said. She turned around, and she and her friends aided each other mutually in getting out the window.

Woody returned to Dolly. "Well," he said. "I… I guess I have a lot to answer for…"

"Just leave it, Woody," Dolly said. "Tomorrow we can think about who we've hurt, but… tonight, can it just be about you and me?"

Woody looked around, and his eyes fell on Buzz, who was holding hands with Jessie.

"We're here for you, cowboy," Buzz said quickly.

"Always," Jessie said.

Woody turned to Dolly once again for confirmation, and she nodded.

"The four of us, then," Woody said. "Out on the lawn."

"Okay," Dolly whispered.


	39. Promised

**Toy Fic**

Another chapter cluster! Sorry this is taking so long. I'm trying really hard to get into this, but there's so much on my mind… most of which doesn't matter at all.

**39. Promised**

The walk back to Molly's house was slow, sad, and silent.

Bo thought about Woody. He had chosen another doll, and that hurt… it hurt a lot. On the other hand, he was so happy. How could Bo be upset when Woody had a happy life?

Easily.

"Well, here we are," Ard said, looking at the front door. "Might as well start working on the attic, eh? Make it more livable. We'll be staying there for some time, I suppose."

They all trudged in, Bob Buttons opening the attic door.

_Edward,_ Bo thought.

He turned his head. She didn't make any further effort to actually think at him, but hoped he'd pick up from her garbled thoughts that she'd let him know when she was ready.

He nodded to her, understanding. He climbed up into the attic. Bo wandered into Molly's room, not really sure what she was looking for.

"Hey, Bo," said a voice. Hippocampus bobbed up beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Bo said. "Fine."

"I hope so," he said sincerely. "Listen, Bo… it might seem sudden, but… well, you know that I've come to care about you, right?"

Bo smiled. "I care about you too, Steve."

"Good," he muttered. "Good… well, I wanted you to know that I'd really like to… look after you." He reached out with the tip of his tail to touch Bo's hand. "'Cause I'd do it," he said. "I'd take care of you… broken heart and all."

"Oh," Bo said, withdrawing her hand. "I… I'm sorry. I can't, Steve. I promised Edward."

Hippocampus's face drooped. "You… promised Edward?"

"Yes," she said. "He told me he loved me… and I promised him, if for any reason I couldn't be with Woody…"

"Oh," Hippocampus said tightly. "I see."

"It's not—"

"No, I get it," he said, turning to scoot away. "Yeah. Love is only for one vaguely human-shaped toy and _another_ vaguely human-shaped toy. I never had a chance. Never let it be said that Stephen James Hippocampus can't take a hint."

"It's not…" Bo began again, then paused. "Stephen _James_ Hippocampus? You have a middle name?"

"I have a backstory," Hippocampus said, nodding. "It was on my box. I don't really remember it." He hopped up to Molly's end table and lifted the phone off the hook.

"Steve, I'm sorry to upset you," Bo said. "Really, I am… what are you doing?"

"I'm calling Sid," he said. "We left him the note, so he knows what's up, right? Well, I'm gonna call him so he can bring me home."

"What?" Bo gasped.

"Leave you and Edward to the privacy you need," he said, ignoring her utterly as he dialed. "You can keep the cat, I suppose, but I think Barbie and Ard are gonna be coming with me…"

"Steve, no!" Bo cried. She slammed her shoulder into a leg of the table, and Hippocampus lost his grip on the phone and tumbled off.

"Ow," he commented brightly.

"You can't do that," Bo said. "Family… _home_… is the six of us together, you know that. I don't want you to go home with Sid, I want you to stay here with us…"

"Funny how a lot of what we do is based on what _you_ want," Hippocampus retorted.

"Now, that's not fair!" Bo said angrily. "I never said the rest of you had to come with me. But this is where we live now, Steve, and it can only be a home if you're here too."

He stared at her.

"Look, who even said that things will work out between Edward and me?" Bo said with a light smile. "I love you, Steve. Don't leave."

Hippocampus sighed. "You're gonna have to do better than that if you really want me to stay… but all right. For the time being, I'm on board."


	40. So Long

**Toy Fic**

**40. So Long**

Sid had taken an extra shift; picking up the garbage on a block he hadn't often seen before.

A little girl was playing with toys on her front lawn, much to Sid's delight. When her mother called her in for breakfast, Sid leaned in to get a better look at the toys… and his blood ran cold.

He looked around. The truck driver was hauling some stuff in on the other side of the street, and no one inside the house seemed to be near the front… he'd risk it.

Sid vaulted over the short picket fence and picked up the cowboy doll. "No way," he muttered. He looked at the bottom of his boot, and sure enough, there was the scrawled name "ANDY".

"I thought so," he muttered. "I never _did_ see anything like you before." He held the toy and looked into his eyes. "It's me," he said. "Sid Phillips. Remember? I hope so. I _assume_ it's not your routine."

He stared at the limp body and vacant expression on the cowboy's face. "Well?" he demanded, shaking the doll. "What do you have to say for yourself? Come on, you got all up in my face once before. Let's have ourselves a civil conversation. It's the least you can do, cowboy. You scarred me for life!"

Receiving no response, Sid sighed and tugged on the cowboy's pull-string absent-mindedly. Perhaps it just wasn't meant to be.

"_Scarred __for __life, __huh?_" said the voice box. "_That__'__s __good! __It__'__s __kind __of __what __I __was __going __for._"

And the cowboy came to life in Sid's hand. "Hey, Sid," he said. "I hoped I'd see you again."

In delight, Sid dropped him. Woody clambered to his feet as the other toys started stirring around him. Sid crouched down to get closer to them.

"So…" Sid said. "Funny, you changed the course of my life and I never got your name."

"Woody," the cowboy said, reaching out a hand for Sid to shake. "Bo told me how your life's been going."

"You've seen her? Good," Sid said. "Wow, it's… it's amazing to see you. Toys have started talking to me again, but it never stops giving me a 'squee!' sort of feeling, you know?"

"Sure," Woody said, nodding. "So, what happened to Babyface and Legs and all those guys?"

"I wish I knew," Sid muttered. "They came to me sometimes, in the middle of the night, when I needed comforting. But one day they all just up and left… I never saw them again."

Woody nodded. "Yeah… toys do that sometimes."

Sid looked to the house, then the road. "Well, listen," he said, "I've got to get going, and I'm sure your kid will be back, but…" He pulled a little white business card out of his shirt pocket. "Here's my cell number. If there's ever anything I can do for you… call me, let me help you. I'm begging you."

Woody took the card. "Thanks, Sid. We'll hang onto this, but… well, life's pretty good over here."


	41. Out There

**Toy Fic**

**41. Out There**

Andy and Yvonne sat in the campus cafeteria, enjoying a meal and each other's company. Hannah approached with a tray of her own, looking tired as she often did recently.

"Hey, guys," she said.

"Hey," Andy replied.

Yvonne glanced between the two of them. "All right, I'm gonna be up-front," she declared. "Any reason I should be worried about you two?"

"Eh?"

"What?"

"Come on, it's hard to miss," Yvonne said. "You two were hanging out long before I came into the picture… any budding feelings between you two I should know about before you break my heart?"

"Your inky black heart?" Hannah said.

"I… don't think that's an issue," Andy said carefully. "Hannah?"

"No, I wouldn't be worried about it," Hannah replied.

Yvonne blinked. "Well… sure, you wouldn't. But should I?"

"No, no… I have no interest in taking Andy from you," Hannah said. "To, uh, answer your question."

"I think we've established that you're a good person," Yvonne said. "But… still. Any errant feelings we ought to get out in the open?"

"For Andy? No," Hannah said.

"Nothing to put this whole friendship in jeopardy?" Yvonne persisted.

"Yvonne…" Andy muttered. "Taking this too far…"

"Yeah," Hannah agreed. "Trust me, I'm _never_ going to want Andy. No offense, buddy."

"That's… fine," Andy said.

"In fact," Hannah said, suddenly sitting up straight. "I've been thinking recently, guys, and… I'm a transsexual."

Andy and Yvonne paused.

"Seriously?" Andy said.

"Eh, probably not," Hannah admitted. Andy and Yvonne hesitated again, deflated. "But, yeah, it's becoming pretty clear to me," Hannah continued. "I'm somewhere in an LGBT-ish area. Somewhere outside of the 90-percent of people whose sole purpose of existing is to, whatcha call it, breed."

"Working on it, huh?" Yvonne said. "That's cool, dude."

"Thanks," Hannah said. "Glad you think so… you remember our road trip? Remember how I was kind of out of it?"

"Yeah, I do," Andy said. "Why was that?"

"I was gonna tell my mother," Hannah muttered angrily. "But I chickened out. I was so angry at myself…"

"Oh, hey," Yvonne said reassuringly, tapping her hand. "Why wouldn't you be able to tell your mother?"

"Just scared, I guess," Hannah said. "You know, she's… older than some other people, to put it kindly. She's from a different era, and I just have no idea what her stance is on… the _subject_."

"Uh-huh," Yvonne said. "And what 'era' is that? The Jurassic?"

"Approximately," Hannah said, grinning.

"'Cause that's the last time anybody had a problem with it. Seriously. By the Cretaceous, all the dinosaurs were _fabulous_."

Hannah laughed and couldn't stop. "Wow, that's a load off," she said. "Feels a lot better now that you guys know. Telling you… well, it beats telling my parents."

"We'll ease you into it," Yvonne offered. "So… back to our original topic, there's no need to worry about you taking Andy?"

"Nope."

"I see," Yvonne said. "Could you become attracted to _me_?"

"Oh, absolutely, dude."

"Aw, crud," Andy muttered.


	42. Runaway Toy

**Toy Fic**

**42. Runaway Toy**

"Rex. Rex, wake up."

Rex blinked, to see Buttercup standing over him looking panicked.

"Rex, come on, on your feet!" Buttercup said anxiously. "Trixie's run away."

That woke him up quickly. "Wha-what?" Rex demanded. "How…?"

"I checked the computer," Buttercup said. "ADAM asked her to run away with him… and she said she'd do it. She's already gone."

Rex hyperventilated. He turned to look out the window; it was the middle of the night.

"But… why?" he squeaked.

Buttercup shook his head. "You got me. But you're gonna find out."

"Me?" Rex gasped.

"Of course! Who else is gonna stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life?"

"Are you sure I can—"

"Of course!" Buttercup snapped again. "Haven't I proven I know who's good for who around here? I had Woody and Dolly pegged as the power couple, didn't I?"

"I suppose…" Rex muttered.

"I _know_ that Trixie belongs here," Buttercup said. "She's Bonnie's toy, she's never gonna be happy living as a street toy with ADAM. But you're the only one she'll listen to about that, Rex. Trust me."

"Well, how do we catch her?" Rex demanded.

"I got that covered," Buttercup said. "Woke somebody else up on the way over to you."

He passed Rex a remote control—the one for Hopticopter. The little black helicopter whirred cheerfully.

Rex nodded. "All right," he said. "Let's do this."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Trixie was half a block away. She was moving slowly, her heart still not convinced of what her mind was telling her—that she would be happy with ADAM.

But she trod on, sure that once she saw him, she'd be convinced.

Then, she did. She saw him. Not the "him" that she expected… but the right "him".

Rex dangled from a rope tied around his middle and around Hopticopter's, aiming a flashlight down at her. Buttercup hung beside him, using the remote.

"Trixie, why?" Rex said. "Where are you going?"

Trixie stared at him defiantly. "I'm going to go live with ADAM…"

"Alone in the streets?" Rex challenged. "But that's no way to live!"

"Why do you care?" Trixie said.

"I care about you a lot, Trixie," Rex said. "All I want is for you to be happy…"

"Well, ADAM wants that too," Trixie countered. "What am I supposed to do? I can't be with both of you."

"You don't have to be," Rex said. "Be with him! But you can't abandon Bonnie. Haven't you thought about Bonnie?"

Trixie blinked. "Of… course…"

"Toys are for playtime," Rex said. "Not running around in the streets! Can't this guy find some other way to be romantic?"

"Bonnie… I completely forgot about Bonnie…" Trixie started sobbing.

"Shh…" Rex muttered. "That's okay… don't cry. Come back home. Please? For Bonnie?"

"Bonnie… and ADAM didn't think about the kids either," Trixie said. "That's so… _wrong_. I'll come home, Rex. I'm choosing Bonnie. But… well, you're just so thoughtful, coming out here, so… I'm also choosing _you_."

Rex let out a peep of happiness, and the two dinosaurs nuzzled there beneath the helicopter.

"So, what are you gonna do about ADAM?" Buttercup asked.

Trixie shrugged. "I guess he'll figure out I'm not coming sooner or later."

"Awesome," Buttercup said.

Trixie boarded Hopticopter, and Buttercup steered it back to Bonnie's house.

"So…" Buttercup said. "If you two are an official couple now…"

"We are," Trixie said quickly.

"Great. So, can you announce it to the entire room tomorrow? 'Cause I've kind of got this deal with Mr. Cold…"

"What?" the two dinosaurs said at the same time.

Hopticopter's engine spluttered as it laughed along with Buttercup.


	43. Uh Oh

**Toy Fic**

**43. Uh Oh**

Buzz found himself feeling slightly sleepy as he made his way to the toys' secret cupboard in the kitchen. Reaching for the screwdriver and double-A batteries, he realized that Cleo was there, wistfully gazing at herself in the mirror.

"Oh… hi," Buzz muttered, clearing his throat.

"Hey," Cleo replied.

Buzz coughed. He could already feel himself shutting down. "Um… hey, could you help me change my batteries?"

"Sure, no problem," she said, walking up to him. He knelt down as she unscrewed his back compartment.

"So, how are you feeling?" Buzz asked.

"Oh… fine," Cleo replied. "Why?"

"I'm just concerned, that's all," Buzz said. "Not easy to forget that outburst of yours."

"I know," Cleo muttered. "I felt a bit… betrayed. But, well, the best thing you can say about life is that it's unfair."

Buzz was silent for a moment as she switched out his batteries. "Well…" he finally said. "I hope you're okay."

"Thanks," Cleo replied. "Hey, 'play/demo', huh? What's this switch do?"

Buzz's eyes widened. "Don't—"

Cleo flicked it.

Abruptly, Buzz got to his feet and examined his surroundings. "What in the galaxy?" he demanded.

He burst out of the cupboard rapidly and immediately spotted Hamm, Mr. Potato Head, and Slinky under the table.

"Minions of Zurg!" Buzz declared. "This must be your lair!"

"Buzz?" Hamm said carefully.

Buzz barreled over them, then he spotted the cat flap and ran for it.

The three of them turned to the cupboard, where Cleo stood, the screwdriver hanging limply at her side.

"It… it was an accident…" she whispered.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sid drove his car through the suburbs, going nowhere, just killing time. Tiny was in his front pocket, and the four stuffed animals he'd rescued from the dump were in the passenger seat.

"I'm glad you guys agreed to this," Sid said. "We should get to know each other, and I especially know that all of you guys have some serious problems."

He noticed the other three were still giving Lotso a wide berth, so he addressed the bear directly.

"Lotso," he said. "Anything you'd like to share with the group?"

"I'll pass," Lotso said. "Nothin' on my mind but fluff." He grinned.

Sid chuckled. "Cute." He spotted something in one of his side-view mirrors: a space-suited toy running after his car and then grabbing onto the bumper. "What the frak…?" he muttered.

"No…" Lotso said, looking in another mirror. "No, couldn't be."

As Sid put on the brakes, Lotso opened the passenger door and hopped out. Sure enough, there was Buzz Lightyear, gripping the bumper of the car.

"Commander Lotso!" he exclaimed. "Is that you? I just came to my senses in a room filled with enemies—I can't remember anything about the last few months!"

Buzz froze as Sid came around the back, but Lotso held up a paw. "It's all right, Lightyear, he's with me," he said. "It's a relief to see you, Lightyear. We've been searching high and low for you; sorry you had to escape on your own."

"Quite all right, Commander," Buzz said, saluting. "I'm accustomed to handling myself, I assure you."

"Lotso, what's going on?" Sid asked.

"Life just handed me lemons, that's what's goin' on," Lotso said with a broad grin. "And when life hands you lemons… make lemonade. Sidney, you ever hear of a place called Sunnyside?"


	44. Molly and Mom

**Toy Fic**

**44. Molly and Mom**

Mom sat at her computer, browsing through some photos, when Molly leaned into the office.

"Hey, Mom," she said. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, just checking in with Andy on his profile page," Mom replied. "He's doing so well… and that girl Yvonne, I wasn't so sure I'd like her at first, but I'm really starting to warm up to her!"

Molly didn't answer, but continued to lurk in the doorway.

"Molly, what's wrong?" Mom asked.

"Hm? Oh, nothing…" Molly paused, then entered the room all the way. "Well, I thought that with Andy gone, this would be a little bit more of a 'me' household, you know? Just me and you… _without_ talking about Andy all day…"

"Oh," Mom said, suddenly concerned. "Oh, Molly, of course… of course you and I can spend more time together. But I have to still worry about Andy… he's still my kid, he's in romantic entanglements… I've gotta keep track of all that jazz."

"Uh-huh," Molly said. "Well, you know, I have romantic entanglements too, you know. Things you should be concerned about."

"Really," Mom said flatly.

"Yeah. I have a boyfriend. We're practically engaged."

"Guy from your class?"

"Uh-huh."

"His name?"

"Isaiah."

"…There's not really an Isaiah in your class, is there?"

"Yes, there is," Molly said indignantly.

"…But he's not really your boyfriend, is he?"

"He certainly is!" Molly said. "What, you think you're gonna catch me in a lie or something? You think I can't back this up? Of course I can."

"All right. Well, I… look forward to discussing it with you."

Molly blinked. "Um… maybe later, all right?"

Mom nodded. "Sure thing, sweetie."

Molly returned to her room, muttering. "Why'd I say Isaiah? I don't even know the guy… all right, damage control time. I've got a boyfriend to make. Gotta get myself to Andy's level!"


	45. Hostile Takeover

**Toy Fic**

**45. Hostile Takeover**

On Lotso's instructions, Sid drove the group to Sunnyside. Carefully following what Lotso asked for, Sid flung the bear, and then Buzz, to the daycare's roof. Buzz landed elegantly on his feet beside Lotso.

"What's the situation, Commander?" Buzz asked. "Why were you so far from Star Command?"

"My command was usurped," Lotso lied smoothly. "Zurg himself is in charge here."

Buzz scowled. "No!"

"That's right. It was a terrible blow to us when you were taken."

Frawgz, Catgut, and Zibby were unceremoniously flung onto the roof to join them.

"As you can see, Lightyear," Lotso said, chuckling, "I've assembled a quite literal ragtag team to try to get Star Command back into our hands—but now that I have you, it's a done deal." He glared at the three battered puppets. "I can count on you three to do what I say, right?"

They recoiled under his tight stare. "Sure thing, Lotso," Frawgz muttered.

"All right then," Lotso said. "We move in through the air conditioning vents… middle of the day, when everyone's guard is down."

"Yes, sir!" Buzz said, saluting.

And so they did, making their way through the air ducts and waiting just outside the Butterfly Room as recess was called.

"All right," Lotso drawled. "Let's bust in there."

With a mighty kick, Buzz brought down the grate leading into the room and marched in, Lotso at his heels and the very reluctant puppets trailing behind.

Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot watched the entrance from a distant shelf.

"Whoa, you see the bear on that nose?" Crow commented.

"Hmm… smells of strawberries and pure evil," Servo observed.

Lotso leaned on Buzz. "Proclaim us," he whispered.

"Soldiers of Star Command!" Buzz yelled. "Don't be alarmed! We're here to take down your evil rule and restore Commander Lotso to his rightful position."

Lotso grinned. "That's right, everybody!"

On the other side of the room, Sunnyside's community leaders had been clustered together in conversation. Ken gripped Barbie tightly. "Barbie…" he said. "Hide. Go for help. Go… go into Bonnie's backpack!"

"But Ken—" Barbie began.

"We'll be fine here! Just keep yourself hidden and come back with help tomorrow! Please, Barbie? I love you."

Barbie nodded. "Okay. I'll see you then." Trying to keep herself concealed, she made her way to Bonnie's cubby.

Ken turned to the group around him, consisting of Twitch, Stretch, Chunk, Sparks, Big Baby, Zurg, Sarge, and the Chatter Telephone. "Come on, gang," he said. "We've gotta make a plan. Come with me."

A few toys who recognized Lotso began to move in on him angrily, but Buzz jumped back to protect him. A squeaky hamburger made its way through Buzz's guard and tackled Lotso.

"Yeah!" the burger yelled. "You mess with Sunnyside, I'm gonna get ya! Don't mess with MC Jealous Hamburger!"

Buzz picked up the burger toy and prepared to throw it back into the crowd, but Lotso stopped him.

"Naw, we'll hang onto him," Lotso said coldly. "I see the citizens need some persuading."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sid paced outside the walls of Sunnyside, wondering exactly what he'd just been a part of. Lotso was a deeply disturbed bear, that much was obvious. But how concerned should he be? Maybe he should make a phone call… or just walk in there and…

He realized that some of the children on the playground had taken notice of him and were pointing him out to their teachers. Sid turned on his heel and sprinted back to his car.

As he turned the ignition, he muttered, "Jeez, this toy obsession gets creepier every year, doesn't it?"


	46. Set Things Up

**Toy Fic**

**46. Set Things Up**

That afternoon when Bonnie came home, she spent some time playing with her toys before being called out into the garden.

Barbie immediately burst from the backpack and rushed into Woody's arms. "Woody!" she said frantically. "Woody—Lotso's back at Sunnyside! And… and it's the strangest thing, but Buzz is with him!"

Woody gasped. "So… Lotso found Buzz. The Buzz who…" He turned to look at Cleo.

She hung her head. "I'm sorry. It… it was an accident… I'm sorry…"

Woody dipped his head. "Yeah… I know." He bent down to tap Dolly on the head. "So… what do we do about this?"

"Well, we go get 'em!" Jessie declared, stomping a boot. "We can't let Lotso spend a single second at that daycare! He'll ruin everything!"

"Now, hang on, Jess," Woody interrupted gently. "We can't just go march over there like it's another rugby game… we need a plan. An airtight plan."

"Airtight," Jessie repeated. "Yeah… yeah, that's probably… best…" She trailed off, sadly reflecting on Buzz's fate.

"Wait a second, I know where to start!" Woody said. "Give me a minute."

Woody snuck out of the room and found the family's cordless phone on the end-table. Making sure none of the family was there, he dialed a number he had recently memorized.

"Hello?"

"Sid! It's Woody."

"No kidding?" Sid muttered. "Wow… you know, I'm glad you're calling. I… I think I might have done something really stupid to our local daycare, man."

"Really?" Woody said slowly. "Might it involve a Lots-O-Huggin' Bear with a tortured past and a delusional Buzz Lightyear?"

The line was quiet for a moment.

"Sid? Still there?'

"Yeah… wow, you toys really do see everything, don't you?"

"Nah," Woody said modestly. "I'd say it's more of a 'small world' kind of thing. So, listen, Sid… I'm glad you already know what's happening. Makes this easier… I have to make a plan to get Lotso out of there. I'm gonna do it tomorrow, but if it doesn't work… well, Sid, I need you to find out everything you can about what happens in that daycare, try your best to really understand the problem."

"Sure," Sid replied. "But… well, you know there's not that much I can do, right? I've talked to some of my toys about it, and they say I shouldn't interfere too much… I mean, this is really a toys' battle, you know?"

"Of course," Woody said. "But I'm counting on you to do everything you can. _Everything_. Can you do that for me, Sid?"

"You have my word."

"Good."

Woody hung up and raced back to Bonnie's room.

"All right," he said. "Barbie! Tell me what you know about the situation over there. Tomorrow, you and I are going in there and taking that bear down a peg."


	47. Drama

**Toy Fic**

**47. Drama**

It was sunset. Ken had gathered his posse within the dark cupboards that served as the repair spa, where Lotso had not yet thought to search for anyone.

"Okay, I think I have a plan now," Ken said. "Here's how it goes. Zurg—you take Chatter and Sarge around to the repair spa area, and round up as many volunteers as you can."

"Roger," Sarge said, saluting.

"Okay. And then, you guys all charge out and cause a ruckus!" Ken clapped his hands. "Zurg, you have to lead the charge. Buzz has to notice you—all right? And don't do anything dangerous—and especially, don't attack Lotso. That's key to our little scheme here. For this assignment, basically, all you gotta do is be Zurg."

"I'd say that works," Zurg replied. "Shall we set off immediately?"

"Please do," Ken said. The three of them rolled and hopped away. "Okay, next move—Big Baby! You go and open the Caterpillar Room doors. I don't think anyone would mess with you… so, we need a clear path from Buzz to the puppet theater. Got it?"

Big Baby nodded and cooed, then departed.

"Okay, Fearsome Foursome," Ken said, nodding around to Stretch, Twitch, Chunk, and Sparks. "Here's what _we_ do. When Zurg's distraction starts up, we have to sneak up behind Buzz and put a bag over his head! Then we rush him to the puppet theater before Lotso notices he's gone. I'll tell you what to do from there."

Stretch smiled. "You can count on us, Ken. We're with you to the end!"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Zurg and his party of volunteers burst out into the room only a few minutes later, laying waste to the Butterfly Room. Ken and his smaller party then snuck around, unnoticed by a room entirely focused on the chaos.

"It's Zurg!" Buzz declared. "I'll have your head for this, evil emperor!"

Ken readied his white cloth sack.

Buzz aimed a high kick at Zurg, who dodged and began clubbing Buzz's helmet with his arms. Taking this as his cue, Ken covered Buzz with the sack, and his four companions converged, preventing Buzz from going anywhere.

Ken whistled. "Dump truck!" he called.

The dump truck rolled over to him, and Ken's groups piled on.

"Puppet theater, stat!" Ken said. The truck drove them there at a high speed, through the mess that Zurg was making, stealing Buzz right out from under Lotso's nose. The truck dumped them into the puppet theater and quickly began to secure its entrances.

"Okay, everyone," Ken whispered, his arms around the struggling Buzz. "Here's what we do…"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Buzz finally found that he could see. He was in a smaller room than he was used to, all of its entrances sealed by curtains. Shaking his head, he glared at the figures surrounding him.

"Just what do you think you're—" He spotted Ken. "Oh… oh, it's you! What happened to Star Command?"

"Zurg knocked you out," Ken said solemnly. "We managed to take you before they could cause any massive damage, but you're still—"

"Wait!" Buzz said. "What about Commander Lotso?"

Ken frowned. "I hate to tell you, Lightyear… but Lotso isn't commander in this sector anymore. We found out that he was working directly with Zurg."

"What?" Buzz scowled. "Impossible!"

"It's true," Ken said gently. "It was Lotso, with your help, who gave Zurg a way into Star Command."

Buzz gasped. "No… no!"

"I'm very sorry," Ken said.

Buzz looked at his surroundings again. Stretch and Sparks were at Ken's sides, Chunk was looking over some sort of readout, and Twitch was patrolling the edges of the room with his staff.

"Lotso told me that Zurg took over as commander," Buzz said firmly.

"He lied," Ken said simply. "I'm Lotso's successor… although Zurg could very well be the commander by now."

"Well, we have to stop him!" Buzz yelled.

"Not right now, Lightyear!" Ken said just as loudly. "You need medical attention, and we're taking you to a planet where you can breathe so that Dr. Stretch can remove your helmet for the operation."

Buzz looked to Stretch for confirmation, and she nodded.

"So, where are we now?" Buzz asked.

"In hyperspace, on the way to the nearest planet that's hospitable for you."

"All right," Buzz said. "But you'd better make it quick! Zurg will destroy entire planets if he has Star Command at his beck and call!"

"We're aware of that," Ken said. "We're on a good trajectory. Mr. Chunk!"

The rock-man jumped and looked up at Ken. "Uh, yeah? I mean… yes, Commander?"

"Chunk, what's our present position?"

"Um… we're pretty close, sir."

"Good. And our speed?"

"Really fast, sir."

"And what's our arrival time?"

"…Soon."

"Very good, Mr. Chunk." Ken looked back at Buzz. "You see? It's that easy. You just relax while I make preparations with Dr. Stretch and Dr. Sparks. A moment, please."

Ken took Stretch and Sparks aside. "Okay… Sparks, you have the screwdriver and the paperclip?"

"Right here, boss," Sparks said, holding the items up.

"Perfect."

"Was this really necessary, Ken?" Stretch asked. "I mean, he bought the whole 'Sunnyside is Star Command' thing. I don't think all this playacting is necessary."

"Eh… I don't know, I just always wanted to get all 'subterfugey', you know?" Ken shrugged. "Anyway, let's do this. Lightyear!"

Buzz saluted. "Yes, commander."

"Dr. Sparks needs to prep your suit, if you'd lie down on your stomach for a moment."

Buzz complied, and Sparks began removing the screws. Buzz began to fidget, and Stretch held him down to the floor gently.

"Okay," Ken whispered. "Barbie told me how this was done. We have to flip this switch, and then hold down that button with a paperclip."

Sparks followed the instructions. A few seconds later, there was a loud beeping sound and Buzz went limp.

"Okay, just keep holding the button," Ken said. "Or, maybe not, maybe Jessie would like to… no, never mind. Keep holding it… There! Now let go."

There had been a second noise, and Buzz began to take notice of his environment.

"What… Stretch?" he muttered. "Where am I?"

"Puppet theater," Ken said.

"Demo Mode all over again, I'm afraid," Stretch said apologetically. "Lotso used you to take control over Sunnyside again."

"Oh, no," Buzz said. "Have I done anything…?"

"No, we got you outta there," Twitch said. "No harm done."

"Yep, but we've still got to deal with Lotso," Ken said.

"You ready to take him on?" Twitch asked.

Buzz nodded. "Completely ready. Let's do this."


	48. All In

**Toy Fic**

**48. All In**

Sid worked his garbage route, largely numb to whatever was going on around him. Mostly, he was pondering what he had done… what _had_ he done? He had no idea.

He came around to the Davis house, and was surprised to see a huge velvet mountain lion peering at him from the bushes. Bob Buttons stepped out, accompanied by Ard, Hippocampus, and Holiday Barbie.

Sid laughed. "Oh, no way! How have you guys been?"

"Oh, pretty good," Ard rumbled. "Very nice…"

"We figured, we left the note, so…" Hippocampus let it hang.

"Yeah, I get it," Sid said. "It's… great. All toys are talking to me now." He looked at them happily. "Nice to see you! Where are Bo and Edward?"

"Attic," Barbie said simply, pointing at the highest window. "They've gotten together… it's like a honeymoon up there. So sweet."

"Wow," Sid muttered, gazing in that direction. "Good for them… um… hey, fellas?"

"Yeah, Sid?" Hippocampus said.

Sid was lost in thought. Maybe he had reinforcements! Maybe he'd found someone who could help with the Sunnyside situation… or at least help him figure out just what the situation even _was_.

"You guys know anything about Sunnyside Daycare?" he asked.

"Not a whole lot," Ard said. "Why?"

"I might have… started something there," Sid said slowly. "Something not-so-good. If you would all be willing, I'd… well, I'd like to ask you guys if I could take you over there so you could check it out."

Hippocampus barely hesitated before saying, "Sure! I'm game."

"R… really?" Sid said, surprised.

"Well, you're still our kid, aren't you?" Hippocampus said with a wink. "Tell us what we've got to do."

"I figure, I'd just find a way to get you guys in there," Sid said. "Assess the situation and everything. You know?"

"Got it," Hippocampus said. "When's your shift end?"

"Couple of hours," Sid said. "I'll pick you guys up and fill you in on the way. Okay?"

"Okay," Hippocampus said with a big sweeping bow. "I'll go tell Ed and Bo."


	49. Taken Hostage

**Toy Fic**

**49. Taken Hostage**

Barbie and Woody returned to Sunnyside the next morning. Ken was already waiting for them in Bonnie's cubby—the three huddled behind her backpack to talk.

"So, what's happened here?" Woody asked.

"It's real bad, Woody," Ken said. "Lotso's done a complete takeover. If we can't do something, he'll have Sunnyside back to the way he had it before within a week."

Woody clenched a fist. "Pull my string, that's horrible… but _how_? He's only one toy. Why can't you all stand up to him?"

Ken shook his head solemnly. "I'll show you."

They peered around the edge of Bonnie's bag. In a shadowy corner, out of sight from most of the children, Lotso sat motionless, with a pair of scissors in one hand and a rubber toy burger in the other.

"Oh, no!" Barbie gasped. "Is that MC Jealous Hamburger?"

"Yep," Ken said sadly. "If anyone comes within ten paces of him, Lotso's going to cut the poor little fella in half. So, we all keep our distance. We don't want any toys to needlessly die."

"Wow," Woody breathed. "He sure can stoop low… Where's Buzz?"

"Caterpillar Room," Ken replied. "He's fine, we reset him, he's back to normal. But he can't get near Lotso either—even the three battered old puppets who Lotso brought with him aren't allowed to come close. They're prisoners just like the rest of us."

"Okay," Woody said. "Well, at recess, let's get a crew together… and in the evening, when everyone's gone, we'll try to talk some sense into Lotso."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Getting everyone to agree was the easy part. That night, however, things became a lot more difficult.

Lotso stood in the center of the Butterfly Room, barking orders to various crews of toys, when Woody and Buzz came out into the open.

"Lotso," Woody declared. The entire room went silent.

Lotso turned, his scissor blade pressed delicately against MC Jealous Hamburger's quivering skin.

"Well, howdy Sheriff," Lotso said. "I advise you two boys not to take a single step closer, or the hamburger gets it."

"Lotso…" Buzz said gently. "We just want to talk to you."

Lotso snorted. "I'm not interested in anything you two have to say. I know your position, and you know mine. Nothing else to it. Twitch! Stretch! Apprehend them. You have five seconds."

Twitch wrestled Woody to the ground and held his hands behind his back. "Sorry," Twitch whispered. "If I saw a way out of this…"

"It's fine," Woody said. He turned his head, and saw that Stretch had Buzz similarly pinned.

"I know just what to do with you," Lotso said. "Big Baby, if you'd lead the way to the front lobby, please."

Big Baby scowled, but guided them all down the hallway.

"You see, boys," Lotso said. "I heard tell from the teachers today that Sunnyside is shipping something off. They're donating a great big box full of books and art supplies to a struggling daycare… in no other place than Rio de Janeiro, Brazil." Lotso laughed. "I bet those kids'd be pleased to also get two high-quality toys like you, don't you think?"

"You wouldn't," Buzz growled.

"Oh, I would," Lotso said. "Big Baby, cut open that package."

Big Baby pulled a letter opener out of a desk drawer and slit open the package.

"Get in," Lotso ordered Buzz and Woody. "And no struggling, gentlemen. You don't want to get this burger's blood on your hands."

Woody glared at Lotso, as did Buzz. Both could tell that the other was seriously considering just charging at Lotso, but a pleading look from the hamburger halted them. They compliantly lowered themselves onto the pile of books.

"Very good," Lotso said. "Now seal 'em up again—good and tight. They don't leave that box until they get to Rio." He laughed boisterously. "Have a good time, boys! Send me a postcard, won't you?"


	50. Edward

**Toy Fic**

**50. Edward**

Later that same evening, Sid boosted all of his old toys over the wall of the Sunnyside playground, along with a rope so they could safely rappel down.

"Sid," Tiny whispered. "I… I want to go too. I just can't shake this feeling like this could be dangerous…"

Sid nodded to her and placed her up top. "I'll be here waiting," he said. "If anything goes wrong, well…"

"It's all right, Sid," Bo said. "We'll be fine. And… thank you, by the way, for all of our lives."

Sid smiled at her as she dipped away, sliding down the rope. The crowd of Sid's old toys made their way to Sunnyside's back door, but found them locked from within.

"Hmm…" Hippocampus said. "Ard, if you could…?"

"Psst!" There came a tiny voice. Sid's toys looked up.

"Over here!" the doll whispered from beneath a ball cart. They peered in and saw a Barbie, huddled in fear.

"Bo Peep, is that you?" the Barbie whispered.

Bo looked surprised. "Um… have we met?"

"We both belonged to Molly… right?" Barbie said hopefully.

Bo gasped. "Molly? I… I'm sorry, I don't really remember…"

"I used to wear leg-warmers a lot," Barbie offered.

"Okay," Bo said. "But… what's going on?"

"It's Lotso," Barbie said with a shudder. "He's taken over Sunnyside again… he's a horrible bear. He's keeping a toy hostage—if anyone comes near, he'll kill him! Right now, Lotso is keeping guard over the box that Woody and Buzz are in… if no one saves them, they're going to be shipped to Brazil tomorrow morning!"

Bo clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh, my goodness…" she whispered. "That's so…" She looked around, then took a deep breath and set her face in a neutral expression. "Tell us what we can do to help."

Barbie nodded. "Well… the doors are locked anyway, by the daycare staff. It was a miracle I managed to sneak outside, away from Lotso's influence… if you can just get the doors open…"

"Not a problem," Ard said. "I can open a lock with the best of them if you give me enough time…"

"But if we're captured…" Barbie said anxiously.

"Oh, we'll be fine," said Sid's Barbie, smiling. "Who could capture us when we're with _him_?" She indicated Bob Buttons.

Barbie looked the mountain lion over. "He _does_ seem pretty fierce," she said.

"Let's go, then," Edward said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

In minutes, the entire group was loaded onto Bob Buttons' back and strolling down the hall.

"Okay, we can stop here," Edward said. "I'll go on alone."

"But Edward—" Bo began.

"It's fine," he insisted. "I can do this… by reading the thoughts of everyone present… I will know exactly where I can lurk without being seen… by anyone."

Bo was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Okay… go on then."

Edward snuck into the lobby and edged, quietly and carefully but with extreme haste, along the walls. Once he had concealment behind the cardboard delivery box, he stood atop it.

"So," Edward said loudly. "You, Lots-O-Huggin' Bear, think you have what it takes to lead these toys."

Lotso turned his head, and Edward quickly tackled him. The scissors, and MC Jealous Hamburger, tumbled out of Lotso's hand.

"You're not worthy," Edward hissed.

Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot observed these events from atop the desk.

"Hey, is that Edward Cullen?" Servo wondered.

"Oh, man, talk about shooting fish in a barrel," Crow said. "Go!"

"Hey, Edward!" Servo called. "Your lipstick's smudged, bro!"

"Yeah, and I think you used too much gel in your hair, there…" Crow added.

Edward grinned toothily at the metal bots. Leaving Lotso on the ground, he picked up the hamburger… and also pressed the scissor blade against the rubber toy's skin.

"You're not worthy, Lotso," he repeated. "But maybe _I_ am… maybe _I_ can be the ruler of Sunnyside. It does sound ever so appealing… yes… I'm the sovereign of Sunnyside Daycare, and anyone who thinks otherwise can watch this toy perish between my fingers."

MC Jealous Hamburger uttered an oath so foul that a number of the Sunnyside toys, accustomed as they were to the language usually heard around preschool children, actually passed out.

"Wha… Edward?" Bo demanded, stepping forward. "Edward, what are you doing?"

Edward shrugged. "Taking my rightful place. Care to join me?"

"I… Edward, no!" Bo gasped. "This is _not_ the Edward Cullen that millions of middle-aged women across the world have fallen in love with! Not the Edward Cullen that I… that I've been…" Bo trailed off meekly.

Edward scowled. "Listen closely, because I will not be saying this again," he said. "I… am not… Edward Cullen. I am a toy. And as such, I will be treated with respect."

Servo laughed. "That's true. Not gonna get far being an Edward doll, are ya?"

"Yeah," Crow said. "If I had to be a Barbie, I'd rather be the, uh, David Spade model instead of Edward. Agreed?"

Edward glared at them, threatening to close the scissors around the hamburger's middle. "Shut up," he said calmly.

They did, immediately.

"You see, Lotso," Edward said, "I've taken all of _your_ takeover plans to a new level. There is absolutely no chance of me being surprised. _None_. I can hear the thoughts of every toy in this building. If anyone plots against me, even subconsciously… and if anyone tries to open this box before it's delivered…" He paused to grin evilly at the box containing Buzz and Woody. "I will _know_. And I will destroy you."

Barbie had taken the opportunity to run back to the Butterfly Room. Hopefully, if she remained inside a large enough crowd, her thoughts could remain secret until she could once again stow away with Bonnie. That was Sunnyside's only hope in a situation that had become even _more_ dire.


	51. Never Ever

**Toy Fic**

**51. Never Ever**

Bonnie returned home the next day and immediately began scouring her room.

"Mom!" she called. "Where are Woody and Buzz?"

"I don't know, honey," her mom called. "Where were you playing with them?"

"I don't know," Bonnie said, rushing out of her room towards her mom. "I can't find them!"

As she left, her toys sat up, all of them looking anxiously toward the backpack, and letting out a collective breath when Barbie emerged.

"Oh, you guys…" she said. "It's horrible."

Dolly stepped up to Barbie and grabbed her hand. "What is it?" she whispered.

"Lotso was taken down…" Barbie said, sobbing lightly. "But… some other doll took his place! I think he's even more dangerous… and… and before it happened… Lotso arranged for Woody and Buzz to be shipped to Rio de Janeiro. The package was taken away this morning."

Jessie clutched Dolly's shoulder to keep from falling to her knees. "No," she said. "That can't be true…"

Barbie nodded, her lip quivering.

Dolly and Jessie hugged each other tightly, both of them weak at the knees from this news. Dolly took a deep breath and turned to face the room.

"Okay, everyone," she said. "We… we can't let ourselves despair. All we can do is hope that things work out… and… and if they don't…" She paused to let herself breathe. "Well, if they don't… we're going to have to accept that we very well might _never_ see Woody or Buzz again… ever."

Jessie curled into a ball on the floor, face tucked into her arms.

At the sound of Bonnie's footsteps, Barbie hid and all the others went limp in their positions. Bonnie pattered into the room, looking devastated.

"Where _are_ they?" she wondered.


	52. Lost

**Toy Fic**

**52. Lost**

Days later in Rio de Janeiro, a daycare employee set to work opening the box. The woman was quite pleased with the results, and turned around to call out in Portuguese to one of her co-workers.

Woody and Buzz were on their feet instantly, and ran away to find cover before the people returned.

Silently, they edged along the wall—not difficult, considering the level of clutter blocking them from view. When the door to the room opened, they quickly slipped through.

To the sounds of what was undoubtedly the new arrival chastising the one who had called out for being crazy, Woody and Buzz slinked down the hall. Dropping down an air vent with no grate, they trudged through the dust until they finally made their way to the front entrance of the dilapidated building, on the corner of a noisy, busy street.

They took cover once again behind some trash cans in a back alley, only to be greeted by a mangy stray dog. Before it could do more than growl at them, they slipped under a fence and sat down, exhausted, in the corner of someone's backyard.

"Hey, look," Woody said, pointing.

Buzz followed his gaze. On a mountain outside the city was a marble statue, over a hundred feet in height, of a robed and bearded man with outstretched arms.

"Christ the Redeemer," Woody said. "We're in Rio all right… not that knowing that helps us at this point…" He sighed, and clunked his head against his knees. With his vinyl head and cotton knees, the gesture fell somewhat flat.

"Well, at least we're safe," Buzz said. "That's what's important right now."

"Yeah," Woody said. "Safe…"

"What do we do, Woody?" Buzz asked.

"I was about to ask _you_ that," Woody said.

Buzz sighed. "I don't know, Woody. But we've been lost before… we've always found a way back."

Woody stared at Buzz dolefully. "Yeah… but we've never left our hometown, never mind the continent. We've never been _this_ lost."


	53. People Who Like Toys

**Toy Fic**

**53. People Who Like Toys**

Andy was paying another visit to Bonnie, who was enjoying herself out in the yard with all of her toys… all those she could find, anyway.

"I'm really worried," she whispered to Andy. "I haven't seen Woody and Buzz all week long."

Andy remembered the time _he_ had lost the two of them… and completely understood the concern on the preschooler's face.

"Hey," he said with a smile, squeezing her shoulder. "It'll be fine. You'll find them exactly where you left them, I promise. I always did."

"I didn't leave them anywhere," Bonnie said. "They just disappeared…"

"Oh, they used to do that all the time," Andy said with a smile. "Things are gonna work out, don't worry."

Andy went inside, where Mrs. Anderson and Yvonne were chatting over a pot of tea.

"Hey, babe," Yvonne said. "You okay? Looking a bit glum."

Andy sat on the couch next to her. "Apparently, Buzz and Woody are missing."

Yvonne pouted sympathetically. "Oh, that's too bad. Those two were like your best friends, huh?" She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Andy admitted. "It's crazy, but… I really hope they do turn up again."

"I know," Yvonne whispered.

Taking a hint, Bonnie's mom silently departed for the kitchen.

"Thanks for understanding, Yvonne," Andy said.

"Oh, hey, it's nothing," she replied. "I _do_ understand… and I appreciate what you're feeling." She scratched at an itch underneath her eye. "I love you, Andy."

Andy inhaled sharply. "I… I love you too, Yvonne. And… thank you, again."

"No trouble at all," she whispered.

Andy looked out the window, to Bonnie's halfhearted play. He was optimistic that Woody and Buzz would be found… but something gnawed at him in the back of his mind, like something was seriously wrong.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Hey, kid."

Bonnie looked up. On the other side of the fence was a man in a ski cap and sunglasses. She flinched away reflexively.

"Listen, I…" Sid muttered. "I understand you're missing some toys? I just want you to know… you're looking for them? Well, they're looking for you. Every bit as much as you want to find them, they want to find you too. I want you to understand that."

Bonnie stared blankly. "Um… who are you again?"

Sid sighed. "Who, me? Me, I'm nobody. I'm just a person who's really into toys, the same as you. I've gotta go."

He turned and left, his thoughts always on Sunnyside, and how he was completely in the dark about what was happening inside.


	54. The Villain

**Toy Fic**

**54. The Villain**

Edward sat at the highest point in the Butterfly Room, surveying the room as if it were his kingdom.

Which, Bo had to admit, it kind of was. He had an iron grip over the daycare… Bo still couldn't understand why he was doing this. She'd thought about confronting him a hundred times, but had always ducked out at the last second, every time.

"Bo," he called from atop the shelf.

Her head snapped up.

"Come on," he said. "I've been watching you agonize inside your head all day. I'll save you the decision—come on up here and talk."

Bo scowled and climbed up to join him, where he sat upon a pillow, waited on by a dozen fearfully trembling toys.

"Is it safe to have so many people on hand?" Bo asked bitterly.

"None of them have the courage to plot against me," Edward said smugly. "I know their minds, and I know this for a fact."

"Living the dream, eh Edward?" Bo retorted.

"Oh, indeed I am," Edward said, suddenly serious. "You could join me in the dream, you know. I don't recall us splitting apart."

"Well, recall it," Bo said. "I left you the moment you started being _evil_."

Edward shrugged. "All right… but the dream doesn't have to stop at Sunnyside, just so you know."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know how many toys are manufactured every year?" Edward said enthusiastically. "If we could, somehow… unite them… we toys could take down all the real people and rule the world. We outnumber them, after all. And who would be expecting it?"

Bo gaped at him in disbelief. "Edward… you _can't_. That's not what toys live for!"

"How would _you_ know?" Edward said, wagging his eyebrows at her. "You're a trinket, a knick-knack. A figurine, not a toy."

"Burn… in… hell," Bo enunciated.

"You're just so… delicate," Edward mused, ignoring her. "How did you ever stay alive before we met? How will you _continue_ to live without me there to protect you?"

Bo clenched her fists and shook in anger. "That's…" She paused, deflated. "That's exactly the kind of thing you'd say… that's how you are, in… in the books and stuff…"

"Yep, pure Edwardness," Edward said proudly. "Hehe. Not bestseller-worthy when it's happening to _you_, is it?"

"How… how did I ever _not_ see you as the villain?" Bo whispered.

"Don't ask me," Edward said, leaning back. "It's… quite beyond my comprehension, I assure you. But you must admit, I'm right in this regard."

Bo stormed off. There was no solution right then but to let herself fume for a while.


	55. The Redeemer

**Toy Fic**

**55. The Redeemer**

Woody and Buzz were atop the mountain, where Christ the Redeemer, that majestic 130-foot statue, stood overlooking Rio. Woody and Buzz stood right at its feet, gazing up at it.

"Beautiful work of art, isn't he?" Woody said.

"And big," Buzz muttered.

The statue cricked its neck and looked straight down at them. They backed away in shock.

"Greetings, my sons," the statue said in a deep, rich voice. "What brings you to my mountain?"

Woody and Buzz exchanged surprised glances. "Um… how can you talk to us with so many people watching?" Woody demanded.

The statue chuckled, lowering its arms and stretching. "If I could only move and speak when none were watching, it would be a poor existence indeed."

Woody and Buzz looked around, and found that it was true. Though countless people were looking upon the majestic statue, none at all seemed to notice that it was moving. Somehow, the same magic that allowed toys to start moving every day was hiding the large statue's movement from view.

"But again… what brings you up here?" the Redeemer asked.

Woody sighed, sitting down at the statue's base. "We got lost," he said glumly. "We're lost toys."

"Stupid, little, insignificant toys," Buzz said.

Woody sighed. "We are… small. That's for sure."

"Look at all that, Woody…" Buzz muttered, waving a hand over the sprawling view of Rio. "It makes me feel so pathetic…" He looked up at the statue. "Hmph, you don't even know what we're talking about. You're one of the Seven Wonders of the World."

"Seven Wonders of the _Modern _World," the statue corrected. "Do you know why that is?"

"Why… what?" Woody muttered, looking up into its huge white eyes.

"Because," the statue said, "the _first_ Seven Wonders, save the Great Pyramid, are all lost to the pages of books. Decayed… crumbled… gone. Just as I and the other current Seven Wonders shall one day be, because nothing lasts forever."

Buzz and Woody stared.

"How…" Buzz choked out. "How do you live with that?"

Christ the Redeemer took a deep breath in, eyes closed contentedly. "I must. I must find myself content with the time that I have. There is no other choice. Do you toys truly believe you have done all of the living that you could in the time that you have had? That there is no potential in the time you have remaining?"

Woody and Buzz stood in silence for a moment, no sound but the wind in their ears and the city far below.

"He's right, you know," Woody said. "It's exactly what I'm always talking about."

"You're _always_ talking about that?" Buzz said, with a skeptical smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Woody stood up. "Come on, Buzz. We're going home. We're going home right now."

Buzz smiled. "Great."


	56. The Sacrifice

**Toy Fic**

**56. The Sacrifice**

"Hello, colleagues," Edward said.

The other toys from Sid's room, hidden in a shadowy corner of Sunnyside, lifted their eyes to glare at Edward.

"I had hoped," Edward continued with an insufferable smirk, "that we might all congregate in the basement, as old friends, to enjoy each other's company. Of course, all the plans you have to overthrow me will do you no good at all… so we may as well be civil. I would be honored if you'd join me."

Hippocampus glared angrily. "Sure… we've got nothing better to do, so, sure. Let's go down there."

"Splendid," Edward said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The basement of Sunnyside wasn't nearly as renovated as the exterior and ground floor, and showed definite signs of the building's great age. Dusty wooden shelves and support beams formed a veritable maze of clutter, and the entire building was heated from beneath by a woodstove.

Bo hoisted herself onto a shelf, interested in the history that must have been hidden among the clutter; while on the floor, everyone from Sid's room, including Lotso and his entourage of tattered puppets, walked along the floor. Everyone kept a distance from Lotso and Edward out of either fear or anger—and even Lotso was trying not to get too near to Edward.

"I'm tellin' you, folks," Lotso said. "This daycare could be… paradise."

"You simply _must_ think bigger, my friend," Edward said. "Your philosophy, that a toy's life is merely waiting to be thrown away… but we could be _so_ much more than that, Lotso."

"Yeah, I've heard what you're saying," Lotso said. "When toys rule the world… well, it has possibilities, I'll give you that."

"You two are sick," Tiny retorted. "Just… sick."

Edward clapped his hands. "Hey! Robots!"

Tom and Crow rushed to his side quickly.

"Amuse us," Edward said pointedly.

"Um… right," Tom said, looking around. "Well, uh, what's with this basement? It's all dusty… anyone been in here for the last hundred years? Ha ha… ha ha ha…" He trailed off weakly.

"We don't work well under pressure, Edward," Crow said apologetically.

"Oh, fine, fine," Edward said, waving a hand. "Doesn't matter much now… Hippocampus, speak your thoughts. That should be sufficiently stimulating."

"I hate you," Hippocampus declared, his teeth gritted. "I thought I might hate you, before, when you… but now… now I definitely do. There's no question."

The basement door opened suddenly, and all the toys ran for cover as a daycare employee entered bearing some wood for the stove. She opened the stove's door and placed the firewood within, prodding at the flames for a moment before returning up the stairs.

She had left the door to the stove open.

Bob Buttons rushed at Lotso, biting the bear's arm tightly.

"Hey!" Lotso growled. "Let go of me, you dumb cat!"

With a mighty screech, Bob Buttons flung Lotso straight into the woodstove—the plush toy was cinders in seconds.

Bo realized that Edward was standing directly beneath her. This was it—she didn't stop to think for even a second. She flung herself off the shelf to land on Edward.

Edward leapt out of the way, and Bo shattered on the ground. The temporary distraction was enough—Ard and Hippocampus wrestled a surprised Edward to the ground.

"Got you now," Ard whispered. "You got nothing, mate."

Hippocampus turned to look at the shattered mess where Bo had landed. He choked up, then gritted his teeth at Edward.

"I don't know what's bad enough for you to deserve," he said.

Bob Buttons gestured to the woodstove, and Edward began laughing hysterically.

"Wow," Ard muttered. "I don't know, Steve… that's harsh…"

The mountain lion snorted.

"It is," Hippocampus agreed. "I don't really want to do it, myself… but…" He looked again at the wreckage of Bo's body.

"Right," Ard said. "Let's do this."

They flung Edward into the woodstove, but he didn't burn away as easily as Lotso. On fire, melting and smoking, he stood up and began to advance on them.

"Hey!" Hippocampus said frantically. "Stay back!"

"Shut the dumb door!" Bo yelled.

Bob Buttons slammed the door and locked it. Edward could be heard pounding on it for a few more seconds, then nothing.

All of the toys stepped over to the pile of shards where Bo's voice had rung out. Hippocampus leaned down and flipped over a piece. It was half of Bo's face, and she blinked up at him and smiled.

"Bo," Hippocampus said, a sob creeping in. "I am so sorry."

"It had to be done," she whispered to him. "I'll be okay, Steve."

"Bo, I… I love you," he choked out. "I always loved you."

She closed her eyes and gave a tiny nod. "I know… I love you too. Can you please… put _me_ in the stove too?"

Steve's eyes widened as he inhaled sharply. "No… no! There must be something we can do… put you back together…"

"No," she said gently. "I'm in a thousand pieces… just scoop me into the fire… it can't feel any worse than… than all of this…"

Steve sighed. "Right… of course."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

They all sat on Sunnyside's back wall as the sun began to set.

"Steve?" Holiday Barbie whispered. "What do you think we should do now?"

"This whole Sunnyside deal…" Hippocampus muttered. "It just wasn't any of our business. We should just… go."


	57. Resolve

**Toy Fic**

**57. Resolve**

It had been nearly a week since Woody and Buzz had disappeared. Bonnie was in hysterics.

"Oh, Bonnie, sweetie," her mom muttered, hugging her tightly. "If it's really been so long since you've seen them… it might be time to move on. To let them go. I hate to have you learn that… but you need to."

In Bonnie's bedroom, the toys themselves were feeling rather depressed as well.

"What a disaster," Cleo muttered. "And it's all my fault…"

"No, Cleo," Dolly said. "Don't say that… this is nobody's fault. Nobody could have seen this coming."

"We just have to be strong," Jessie said, stroking Bullseye's head. "We can get through this."

"How?" Rex asked. "We've always had Woody and Buzz there with us, always. Without them…"

"Without them, there are still many of us," Mr. Pricklepants declared. "Many of us, to support each other through this difficult time."

"Thank you, Mr. Pricklepants," Dolly said sincerely, nodding to him. "We just need to have the right kind of resolve, that's all. It's time for _us_ to move on too, to let go. It's not going to be easy… in fact, it's going to be very, very hard… but it can be done."

"A lot of us have been through much worse," Jessie added. "We've got to believe in Woody and Buzz… and still be ready to face the worst."

Dolly took Jessie's hand. "I know we can all do it—together."


	58. Getting Older

**Toy Fic**

**58. Getting Older**

It was evening, and Sid did one of his routine passes of Sunnyside. For the first time, he saw what he had been wishing for: his toys, sitting on top of the wall. He got out of his car and stepped up to them.

"Hey, everybody," he said carefully. He looked from one to another; Tiny, Hippocampus, Ard, Holiday Barbie, Bob Buttons, Frawgz, Catgut, and Zibby… all of them looking miserable. "What happened here?"

"Awful things," Tiny whispered. "Things toys shouldn't have to see."

"Where…" Sid muttered. "Where's Bo? Edward, Lotso?"

"Dead," Hippocampus said flatly. "All dead."

Sid inhaled sharply. "And… what about that Buzz Lightyear?" He turned to the ragged puppets.

Zibby shrugged. "Still in Rio, I suppose."

"…Rio?" Sid repeated blankly.

"We've done all we could," Hippocampus said. "We saved the daycare… it was horrible, but we did it. We did it… still horrible. Take us home, Sid."

Sid nodded. "Of course… hey, come on, guys. It's gonna be all right. We're gonna go home, and… it's all going to be fine."

"You don't know that," Hippocampus said coldly.

"Sure I do," Sid said. "Please trust me… we're going to go home…" He paused to sniffle and brush away a tear. He truly didn't know if things would be okay. "Let's… go home," he finally muttered.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Woody and Buzz slipped out of the luggage compartment of a plane that had just landed at the Tri-County Airport.

"We did it," Buzz said, amazed. "We actually got back to our town!"

"We sure did," Woody said. "And now, we've gotta get back to Bonnie's. You have any objections to stealing another luggage car?"

"Oh, hey, not at all."


	59. Gonna Be All Right

**Toy Fic**

**59. Gonna Be All Right**

Andy and Yvonne paid another visit to the Davis household. Sitting in the living room and talking, Yvonne never let her physical contact with Andy break.

"So, you two are getting… very serious, aren't you?" Mom said, nodding to them.

"Well, sure," Andy said. "We've never… _not_ been serious. You know what I mean? I can't _not_ commit."

"Oh, yeah… totally," Yvonne agreed.

Mom smiled. "I'm glad."

"Hey, guys!" Molly called, strolling into the room, arm-in-arm with a scrawny black-haired boy who looked as if he was trying to figure out how he'd gotten there. "Here I am, me and my awesome BF, Isaiah."

"Ohhhh… kay," Andy muttered.

"You see, Andy?" Molly said smugly. "You're not the only one in a relationship."

"I'm pretty sure that I am, actually," he replied dryly.

"No way, dude. This is gonna last forever."

"Mmmmmmmm… no," Andy said decisively.

Molly glared. "All right, be that way, bro. See if I care what you think…"

Molly slipped away with Isaiah. "Thanks, bud, but apparently I'm not fooling anybody," she said.

"We were trying to fool somebody?" Isaiah said. "You mean you don't _really_ want me to be your boyfriend?"

Molly whirled on her heel, her eyes suddenly wide and doe-like. "You… you _do_?"

"Well, yeah, I mean—"

Molly burst into tears.

In the living room, Mom, Andy, and Yvonne turned their heads. "Well, I'd better see what that's all about," Mom muttered, standing up and leaving.

Yvonne turned to Andy. "Hey," she said quietly.

"Hmm?"

"You got something on your mind, don't you?" she whispered. "It's not easy to forget…"

Molly could be heard blubbering from the hallway. "I've got a totally cool boyfriend! I really do! I'm so happy…"

"Nah, it's… it's fine," Andy said. "See, I know those guys. Toys _always_ turn up again."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Woody and Buzz parked the luggage car a block away from Bonnie's house.

"Here we are, Woody," Buzz said. "This is the first day of the rest of our lives."

"Well, actually, _every_ day is that," Woody mused.

"Hmm… you're probably right about that. But let's get going, anyway."


	60. We Belong Together

**Toy Fic**

**60. We Belong Together**

Woody and Buzz entered the bedroom to much fanfare. Jessie gave a great whoop and kissed Buzz passionately on the lips. Dolly hobbled up to Woody and, before glancing at Buzz and Jessie out of the corner of her eye, shook Woody's hand with a wide smile.

"Good to have you back, cowboy," she said quietly.

"Well, shoot, it sure is," Slinky said with a smile. He turned to some other toys. "Okay, who had this week?"

"I did," Hamm said, lifting a hoof.

Buttercup, Mr. Potato Head, and Chuckles produced a large number of coins and passed them over to Hamm.

"I keep on losing money on this cowboy," Potato Head muttered angrily. He stepped up to Woody anyway and shook his hand. "But, really, Woody, it's a relief to have you back. I mean it."

Rex and Trixie lifted their eyes from Bonnie's handheld game, and apparently noticed Woody and Buzz for the first time. They both screamed with delight and ran over to embrace them.

"Well, come on, Buzz," Woody said. "We've got to let Bonnie know we're back."

They snuck into the living room and huddled under the computer desk, without Bonnie or her mom taking notice. They went limp, making very deliberate clattering noises that caught Bonnie's attention immediately.

Bonnie walked over to the computer desk and moved the chair out of the way. "Woody! Buzz!" she said with delight.

"Oh, good," Bonnie's mom said. "Where were they?"

"Here under the desk!" Bonnie said.

"Aw, see? What'd I tell you? Right where you left them."

The déjà vu was too much—Woody and Buzz couldn't help but let out small chuckles. Bonnie did a double-take.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The next morning, Andy joined Bonnie in playing with toys in the front yard. Andy was relieved that Woody and Buzz had finally been found, and gave them no small amount of attention early on in the play session.

But soon enough, the two were left in the grass as Andy attended to Bonnie's other toys—she had never favored one over any of the others, and he tried to keep up with _her_ method of playtime.

Andy and Bonnie had their backs turned when Sid passed by on the sidewalk. Woody and Buzz sat up and waved to him. He smiled enthusiastically and waved back.

Jessie and Dolly snuck away from the playtime, and snuggled up to their respective guys, though they had to freeze when Bonnie noticed them.

She giggled. "Look, Andy!" she said, holding the four of them up. "Aren't you glad they're all together?"

Andy smiled. "Yeah… yeah, I am."

Andy took Woody and gazed at him happily. Woody couldn't help but squeeze Andy's finger ever so slightly, leading Andy to do a double-take exactly like Bonnie had the evening before.

They were in sync—they had no reason to doubt each other. Woody knew that Andy would brush it off as his imagination, which he did. Andy had known that Woody would always come back… and he did, then and for the rest of time.

**the end**


End file.
